Rallying round the flagstick

LAKEWOOD, Pierce County — On the third tee, a group of a dozen volunteers, including Gail Price, 88, a World War II veteran, is ignoring the pelting rain and laying new turf.

In a shed, Lyle Hanks, 85, who was shot in the first assault wave on Omaha Beach on D-Day, is repairing and building clubs so that wounded veterans can use them.

On the driving range, Russ Carlson, 67, who lost a leg and suffered severe arm wounds in the Battle of Khe Sanh in Vietnam, is hitting balls and socializing.

It doesn't take long to figure out why American Lake Golf Course is such a special place and why Mondays can be remarkable days.

Mondays are the day "Warriors" — members of the Warrior Transition Battalion out of Madigan Army Medical Center — enjoy free golf, range balls, instruction and golf carts.

Helping Warriors and other injured veterans has become a high priority the past two years at the course adjacent to the American Lake Veterans Hospital. This is where the wounded and injured get a unique form of therapy and an army of volunteers makes sure it happens.

Standing near Carlson, the Vietnam War veteran, on the driving range are two Iraq veterans, Army Sgts. Michael Padgett and Andres Contreras. Both have ankle injuries, and Padgett, who landed on a rock when he jumped over a wall while on a patrol, is wearing a medical "boot."

"I looked at this as a sissy sport," said Padgett, who found himself so quickly hooked that last December he and Contreras played during a snowstorm.

The nine-hole, 2,778-yard course was built after World War II. In 1995, the government eliminated funding for VA courses, but this one has remained open and is operated by a group of more than 140 veteran volunteers.

The main incentives have been cheap golf — $12 to play all day — and camaraderie. The course regulars represent a mix of races, ranks and service branches.

The drive to help disabled and wounded soldiers and reach out to injured veterans of all wars has escalated. Many of the disabled golfers come from the Warrior companies, special units created to help wounded and sick soldiers and their families, while others are from the VA hospital, and a handful from the Soldiers Home, a retirement facility in Orting operated by the state Department of Veterans Affairs.

Golfers unable to stand and hit a ball are taught to hit from a "Solo Rider," a one-person golf cart with an adjustable, tilting seat that can position them to swing at the ball.

Course manager Mike Kearney, a Bronze Star recipient who was stationed at an Air Force forward air-control post in the Mekong Delta during the Vietnam War, said a retired general of the 82nd Airborne Division has been a key player in the expanded program.

"We all knew we had a war going on in Iraq and wounded were coming back," Kearney said. "I went over to Madigan for like 18 months. I couldn't get anywhere in letting them know what we had available for them."

Enter retired Maj. Gen. Ed Trobaugh.

Kearney said Trobaugh "went over there and talked to the general in charge of Madigan and was referred to the new colonel in charge of the Warrior battalion, Carl Bolton, and boy, things started happening. ... It's the difference between a crusty old tech sergeant walking in the door and a two-star general."

The course held a tournament for the Warriors last spring, and a bigger one is set for Friday, with about 140 golfers and an additional 260 or so soldiers coming for lunch, a mini-job fair, seminars on VA benefits, and entertainment that will include a Navy band and a rock band. Local pros are helping the Warriors get ready with a clinic today.

At the barbecue, private companies that have donated materials and assistance to improve course facilities will be honored.

Many of them were recruited by C. Patrick Gailey, a Korean War veteran and retired construction-company vice president. He has supervised construction of a large, covered picnic area and the now-covered driving range. Future projects include upgrading bathrooms to accommodate wheelchairs, and replacing the tiny 1950s clubhouse.

Many donations are made through the Friends of American Lake Veterans Golf Course organization. The course also has received various grants, including two totaling $65,000 from the United States Golf Association.

Another organization taking notice is the American Hospital Association, which honored the course volunteers this spring as the AHA's national volunteer organization of the year.

The golf program has led to informal counseling because old vets want to help wounded comrades and Iraq casualties.

"We treat people with respect," said Kearney. "We know what they've been through because we've been there ourselves."

One of the most touching moments last summer was when friends took a soldier wounded in Iraq to the course on the day he was to receive his Purple Heart.

Kearney said the young man's parents showed up at Fort Lewis and were incredulous when they heard that their son, who uses a wheelchair, "is up playing golf at the VA hospital."

The parents and the major who was to award the Purple Heart drove to the course.

Kearney said, "Right in the middle of everything that was going on, the major knelt down and presented the Purple Heart to him. Everyone was standing around with tears. It was unbelievable."

Even the driving range went quiet.

"You couldn't have choreographed it, and it's hard to explain," Kearney said. "It just happened."

Talk about a golfing band of brothers.

Craig Smith: 206-464-8279 or csmith@seattletimes.com