Saying thanks to the troops and their families. That's the main focus of Tee It Up for the Troops. This is the third annual event in Peoria as part of the national Tee It Up for the Troops effort. This year, three golf courses are involved - Mt. Hawley and Peoria Country Clubs and Weaver Ridge. It starts off in the morning with vets golfing for free.
And just saying thanks goes a long way. Just ask retired Air Force Major Christine Queen of East Peoria who remembers the first time she was thanked when she got from home from Operation Desert Shield in 1991. "A guy come up to me in the airport and thanked me," Queen tells WMBD's Greg and Dan. "It just floored me and it made me feel really, really good."
Among those participating this year is Jim Zikus of Peoria. Zikus was part of an Auxiliary Tug Fleet in World War Two. His troop was sent to Okinawa to remove a destroyer that had run aground near Japanese held territory.
Zikus tells WMBD's Greg and Dan the Japanese could have destroyed the ship at any time, but waited for another vessel to show up.
"We were sitting ducks," says Zikus. "The third shell that hit the magazine, I just happened to be abreast of the open Pilot House, the concussion literally blew me up and over the ship. I was the only one who survived because I didn't go in the Pilot House."
Army Sgt. Dan Casara of Chicago is another of the 88 veterans and military personnel taking part. Casara was injured while fighting in Iraq in September of 1995.
"I was in a tank the rolled over an anti-tank mine and it flipped the tank over, killed two of my soldiers and injured me in the process," says Casara. "I had bilateral fractures to my right tibia and fibula, shattered left tibia, both my ankles were shattered and I had a dislocated right hip. I've had 24 surgeries to date."
Casara says doctors thought he would never walk again. But, learning to golf thanks to Tee It Up for the Troops has been part of his therapy. Casara says at times he thought "Why Me?" but now he wouldn't change a thing. "This is probably the best thing that's happened to me," explains Casara, "because other people are able to, hopefully, move forward in their lives because of my story."
The Illinois Patriot Guard's Fallen Heroes Traveling Memorial Wall was featured at the flagship home of this year's event - Mt. Hawley Country Club. The wall lists the names of 253 Illinois residents who lost their lives in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The name of Don Pannier's son, Phillip of Washburn, is on the memorial.
"It's little bit of healing, but also let the public know not to forget," says Pannier.
Each golf course held a noontime ceremony featuring a military fly-by and the laying of wreaths to honor the families of the fallen.
