PHOTO CAPTION: Jessica Simpson is surrounded by the Stars & Stripes and the U.S. Army Flag as she sings "The Star-Spangled Banner" during the opening ceremony of the AT&T National PGA Tour event July 1 at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md. Simpson recently performed for troops in Iraq and Kuwait. Her boyfriend, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, played with tournament host Tiger Woods during the third annual Earl Woods Memorial Pro-Am. (Photo by Tim Hipps, FMWRC Public Affairs)

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Wounded Warriors honored at AT&T National 090702

By Rob McIlvaine FMWRC Public Affairs

The 2009 AT&T National, hosted by Tiger Woods, is a week-long salute to the men and women of the Armed Forces at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda. While the tournament activities began Monday, the official opening ceremony took place Wednesday under bright, clear skies.

After performances by the Virginia Military Institute band, the U.S. Navy Ceremonial Guard Team, and a rousing rendition of the National Anthem sung by Jessica Simpson, the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Screaming Eagles Parachute Demonstration team jumped from a UH-1 “Huey” helicopter over the 1st fairway. Their mission: to deliver the golf balls for the ceremonial first shot. The Huey was supplied by the Washington, DC National Guard.

U.S. Army Major Ken Dwyer, currently assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group in Fort Bragg, N.C., and Staff Sgt. Ramon Padilla, assigned to Walter Reed Army Medical Center where he’s recovering from injuries sustained in Afghanistan, joined Tiger for the first shot of the tournament. Both S oldiers lost their left hands and used special clubs adapted to their prostheses.

Tiger Woods has made a point of honoring the military through this tournament by not only distributing 30,000 complimentary tickets to the military community through the Pentagon’s Army ITT/ITR office, but by also giving 26 active military personnel from the DC area the opportunity to act as professional caddies on hole number 7, giving 16 members of the military the opportunity to serve as starters on the first and tenth tees, and treating 50 wounded warriors to the VIP treatment on Wednesday and Thursday of tournament week.

His father, the late Earl Woods, served in the Special Forces in Vietnam. Tiger says the country owes a great debt to the men and women in the military, especially those wounded in combat.

“You know, it hits home when you see one of them come out and to see what they are dealing with on a daily basis, and what they have to go through because they are putting their lives on the line for us,” Tiger said.

For Dwyer, humor carries him through the hard times of adjusting after injury and during the healing process.

“I was injured by an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) in a big firefight in Afghanistan in August 2006. I saw it coming at us and I tried to reach out and grab it, but I missed,” Dwyer said with a twinkle in his eye. The other eye has a pr osthetic device.

“There’s lots of groups that do great things for wounded warriors, but I got involved with the Wounded Warrior Project, a non-profit organization, because their headquarters are in my hometown of Jacksonville, Florida,” Dwyer said.

“Through this organization a bunch of us got invited to participate in a golf tourney hosted by the David Feherty yesterday.”

David “Fairway” Feherty, a golf analyst for CBS Sports uses his distinctive Irish accent to add color to the sport. At his tournament of nine holes, the wounded warriors got to play with pros Tom Watson and Hunter Mayhan.

“I walked up to Feherty,” Dwyer said with a smile, “and pulled out my eye and asked him to autograph the back of it. He laughed and said, ‘now that’s a new one’,” Dwyer said with a chuckle.

Hans van der Maarel and his wife Ine were in the crowd listening to Jessica Simpson sing, but their hearts were somewhere else.

“Our son, Vincent, will be jumping from a helicopter with the Screaming Eagles in a little bit,” van der Maarel said. “He loves the Army.”

Originally from Holland, Hans and Ine came to North America in 1974, first landing in Canada and later emigrating to the U.S. in 1985.

“They work so hard at doing their job,” Hans said of the Screaming Eagles, out of Fort Campbell, Ky. A former parachutist himself, he understands what his son and the seven others on the team go through every day.

“They make around seven jumps every day, working on spot landings, in various patterns, and then they have to pack their own parachute, not an easy job,” van der Maarl said. “It’s so rewarding to hear the people cheering when they land. I look around and say, ‘hey, that’s my son.’ It gives me chills every time to watch them.”

Sgt. Max Ramsey, one of the members of the team, returned from Iraq without part of his left leg. He jumped with a specially designed prosthetic leg designed for jumping. After landing, he changed to another prosthesis designed for walking.

The USO had a Care Package Tent where spectators were encouraged to fill a package for shipment to troops deployed overseas. Joining in the fun for a good cause was Anthony Clark, 8, whose father, Clay Slaughter, watched with pride from the sidelines.

Olivia Kantwill, an Army brat born in Nuremberg, Germany, also stepped up to help out at the USO tent. “I’m a volleyball player and enjoy watching golf, but I also enjoy doing everything I can for the military,” Kantwill said. Her father is an Army colonel stationed at Fort Meade, Md.

After the 101st Airborne Screaming Eagles landed exactly on their spot, they walked up to deliver the golf balls to Tiger, Dwyer and Padilla.

The three teed up together, took a deep breath, and hit their balls at the same time. The crowd went wild.

“To be honest with you, it was not anything (I expected), and I certainly didn’t expect to hit a shot that went that straight,” Dwyer said.

“It was probably the best shot I’ve hit in weeks. I expected to be nervous, but when I got up there, no.”

Dwyer was a golfer before he was injured, but Padilla is new to the sport.

“When I joined up with the Wounded Warrior Project, they asked what kind of sport I’d like to get involved with. I tried golf and liked it. I could hit the ball and make it go where I want it to,” Padilla said.

Jennie Dwyer said the project has greatly helped her husband and others injured in combat.

“They have done so much to bring guys out to these events and it gives you a sense of life outside of being wounded,” Jennie said. “And that life is enjoyable and wonderful, and all the great activities that you can still do. And it does not matter if you are wounded. Life goes on and is great.”

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