Wounded Warriors, Friends Raise Money for Military Families

Over 75 golfers—including wounded warriors from Walter Reed Army Medical Center, three retired military generals, a member of Congress and other veterans of U.S. armed forces, as well as corporate board members and friends—played in  the fourth annual Thanks USA Charity Golf tournament at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club to benefit families of the U.S. military and raised over $160,000.

The event raises funds to support ThanksUSA’s mission of appreciating active-duty men and women by giving scholarships to their families.

Retired Army Staff Sergeant Charles Eggleston, a wounded warrior veteran and a Purple Heart and Bronze Star recipient, interrupted his play to share the mission.

“I’m here to support the cause for families of the fallen and injured,” he said. “To us wounded warriors, ThanksUSA are our heroes. They pick up the pieces. They fill in the gap… we’re back now, and Thanks USA is fighting the fight for us. We love these guys.”

Under clear blue skies, a slight breeze and a 73 degree temperature around Lake Manassas, other players echoed his sentiment.

Retired  Army sergeant 1st class Dave Cook, a wounded warrior who served in Afghanistan, said: “This is a great organization.  It’s important to support this organization for what they do for families who want to go to college and can’t afford it…as you know, we don’t make much money."

ThanksUSA is the brainchild of two McLean, Virginia, schoolgirls in 2005, and has since awarded post-secondary scholarships to 2,200 spouses and children of active-duty military. “Since starting the scholarship program five years ago, we've awarded more than $6 million in scholarships to military spouses,” said Michele Stork, ThanksUSA executive director.

One scholarship recipient— Leighann Temple, 32, of Dallas, Texas— said she’d always passed by a community college and thought about attending. Married to an active-duty staff sergeant and a mom of a little girl, she didn’t know how she could enroll or if she could even afford the time and money.  Her father and husband encouraged her and she started attending.

But tragedy interrupted; her father suffered a massive fatal heart attack in 2006. She sought to make him proud and soon transferred to Texas A&M, pursuing her degree. “The Lord works in crazy ways,” Temple said. “My father didn’t have to worry that I didn’t do what I always wanted to.”

She still wasn’t sure how to pay for it and she was busy with heavy volunteerism for the Family Readiness Group, such as getting together with other military spouses to make meals for single soldiers.  Her life revolved around making things easier for others, and the ThanksUSA people took notice. A winner of two 'Volunteer of the Year' awards, Temple received a notice she was a ThanksUSA scholarship recipient.

“I was excited, overjoyed, extremely appreciative. I had to work so hard to make my dad proud of me. I felt he was watching over me and I had achieved something he would be proud of. He was my drive. I wanted to pick up the phone and call him. But I couldn’t.” 

Temple graduated from Texas A&M in December of 2009 with a degree in political
science and is currently studying for her masters degree and teaching as a
graduate assistant. She’s considering the Bush School of Government and Public Service for certification in Homeland Security, and would like to work in policy management someday.

“There’s nothing better than being an American,” she said, joking  that a general tells her she’s got “Potomac Fever” since she loves the DC area so much. She laughs that as a Texan she is a “geographical mistake.”

Michele Stork said ThanksUSA has been successful because of the support of corporate donors like the Ashburn-based Intelligent Decisions, a global systems integrator with IT services that sponsored the golf tournament.

“Military families give up so much with loved ones often stationed far from home. These scholarships are one small way we can help repay them, as well as the men and women who so bravely serve our nation,” said Harry Martin, Intelligent Decisions, Inc. president and CEO and member of the ThanksUSA board of directors.