VA Puget Sound and American Lake Golf Course to host
Welcome Home Event for wounded veterans


More than 400 soldiers from Fort Lewis’s Wounded Warrior Transition Battalion are scheduled to participate in a golf clinic and resource fair at the American Lake Division of VA Puget Sound Health Care System on Friday, May 9, 2008.

TACOMA, Wash. ─ More than 350 wounded soldiers from Fort Lewis are scheduled to participate in VA Puget Sound Health Care System’s Welcome Home Event at the American Lake Division campus May 9, 2008.

The event, part of a national series of VA events to welcome home veterans from the Global War on Terrorism, will offer a wide range of activities and services. Soldiers will have the opportunity to participate in a three part golf clinic, take part in a resource fair, and be given the opportunity to ask VA staff and Veteran’s Service Officers about specific service-related concerns.

In a partnership with Madigan Army Medical Center and the Wounded Warrior Transition Battalion at Fort Lewis, and the Volunteers and Friends of VA Puget Sound Golf Course, the soldiers will learn the basics of golf, including how to keep score and maintain proper etiquette on the course. Following the golf clinic, many of the soldiers will be playing in a scramble-style golf tournament for prizes donated from local businesses and community leaders.

“The golf course was originally created as a rehabilitative therapeutic tool,” said Mike Kearney, Community Volunteer and Manager of the American Lake Veterans Golf Course. “We want to make sure that our veterans, especially those who don’t feel they have a place to belong, have a place to volunteer and be with other veterans. And maybe play a little golf.”

At the same time as the golf tournament, soldiers not involved in the clinic will have the opportunity to explore a resource fair at the American Lake auditorium. At the fair, veterans and soldiers will begin their applications for VA healthcare and speak with trained professionals to answer questions they may have about transitioning to civilian life.

“We just want our veterans to know that there is a wide-ranging support network for them,” said Linda Gillespie-Gately, OEF/OIF Program Manager for VA Puget Sound. “So many veterans come back and don’t know what we can do for them, whether it’s health care or someone to talk to or help making ends meet. Events like this allow us to bring the veterans in and discuss their needs while providing some entertainment for them.”

Also present will be the Northwest Navy Band, a local rock band, and a hot rod and classic car show. At lunch, guest speakers including Washington State Senators Rosa Franklin and Mike Carrell, Deputy Director for VA Puget Sound DeAnn Dietrich and other state and local leaders will pay tribute to veterans, their families and community groups who work everyday to help our veterans transition from military to civilian life.