thedrifter
09-15-09, 07:43 AM
Troops in Iraq get slice of home with donated golf clubs from the Q-C
Kay Luna | Posted: Tuesday, September 15, 2009 2:15 am
Byron Stanley, calling from somewhere in Iraq, joked about his golf game.
He likes to take a swing at it, when he can.
"But I'm terrible," the 22-year-old U.S. Navy medic from Geneseo, Ill., said with a laugh.
Right now he is in the Middle East desert. You don't see a lot of lush golf greens and fairways in Stanley's current corner of the world.
Instead, he sees a lot of serious medical situations while on the job, and Stanley admits he has dealt with some pretty "horrible" things during his tenure overseas. This is his second tour of duty in Iraq.
The chance to chip a few balls would be amazing, he said.
It's men and women in the armed forces such as Stanley who inspire Denny and Teresa Lynch of Geneseo to keep up their efforts on behalf of Operation Tee-Off to Iraq.
In the past two years, with lots of help and donations from all across the Quad-City region, the Lynches have been able to send a total of 3,300 golf clubs and an untold number of golf balls and tees to members of the U.S. military stationed overseas.
Why golf clubs? Because they give the military personnel a chance to unwind in their downtime and play a game that gives them a slice of home.
The couple's own son, Jeremy Lynch, inspired the idea. He was
stationed two years ago with the U.S. Navy near Baghdad, Iraq. He wrote home, saying he wished he could think of something else to do on breaks besides throwing around a football or a Frisbee.
So the family dug up about 20 old golf clubs and some golf balls they had lying around and mailed them overseas to 32-year-old Jeremy, a chief petty officer with the Navy.
"He e-mailed, saying - you wouldn't believe it - there were guys walking a mile or a mile-and-a-half to his camp, just to swing those golf clubs," Denny Lynch said. "It's dangerous enough without them walking that far. So we started sending more."
Now, the project sends enough golf clubs each time to supply an entire military unit. Usually, someone in that unit has ties to the Quad-Cities, but that's not a rule.
"It's word-of-mouth," Denny Lynch said. "We hear from people who say they have friends or family over there and they give us names."
The couple only mails golf clubs to soldiers who are referred to them, by name, via a relative or friend. And they only mail them after they connect by e-mail and verify that their superiors are OK with the unit receiving a shipment of golf clubs.
Any day now, Stanley's unit will be receiving two boxes full of clubs and balls from the Lynches - and the rest of the Quad-Citians who donated to the cause.
This will be the second time he has benefited from the project. When he was stationed in Iraq last year, from February to September 2008, his unit received golf clubs the same way and "it was awesome," he said.
"We just had a blast," he added. "It was a way to get our minds off of everything and just have fun."
When they left, the golf clubs were passed on to other military personnel to use.
Now, after returning to the Middle East just a few weeks ago, the U.S. Navy hospital corpsman 3rd class, stationed with the U.S. Marines out of Camp LeJeune, said the unit is expecting its next shipment of golf supplies any day now.
"We're really excited," he said. "There's not as much open space here. It's more populated and condensed, so we've already been making plans on making up some kind of netting so we can hit balls into the net."
Even though the Lynches are from Stanley's hometown, the couple and the young sailor have never met. But that doesn't matter. Their hearts have been touched by each other's service.
Speaking from Iraq, Stanley said it's hard to explain how grateful he and his comrades feel about their golf-themed gift.
"There is often so much going on here that we lose track of the fun things and get into a routine of just doing the same stuff day in and day out," he said. "We forget about the fun, stress-relieving activities we are able to enjoy freely back in the States.
"I don't think I could even let them say thank you to me for my service before I would want to say thank you to them for taking the time and effort to donate those items to help us relax and let loose, if even for a couple minutes a day."
Ellie
Kay Luna | Posted: Tuesday, September 15, 2009 2:15 am
Byron Stanley, calling from somewhere in Iraq, joked about his golf game.
He likes to take a swing at it, when he can.
"But I'm terrible," the 22-year-old U.S. Navy medic from Geneseo, Ill., said with a laugh.
Right now he is in the Middle East desert. You don't see a lot of lush golf greens and fairways in Stanley's current corner of the world.
Instead, he sees a lot of serious medical situations while on the job, and Stanley admits he has dealt with some pretty "horrible" things during his tenure overseas. This is his second tour of duty in Iraq.
The chance to chip a few balls would be amazing, he said.
It's men and women in the armed forces such as Stanley who inspire Denny and Teresa Lynch of Geneseo to keep up their efforts on behalf of Operation Tee-Off to Iraq.
In the past two years, with lots of help and donations from all across the Quad-City region, the Lynches have been able to send a total of 3,300 golf clubs and an untold number of golf balls and tees to members of the U.S. military stationed overseas.
Why golf clubs? Because they give the military personnel a chance to unwind in their downtime and play a game that gives them a slice of home.
The couple's own son, Jeremy Lynch, inspired the idea. He was
stationed two years ago with the U.S. Navy near Baghdad, Iraq. He wrote home, saying he wished he could think of something else to do on breaks besides throwing around a football or a Frisbee.
So the family dug up about 20 old golf clubs and some golf balls they had lying around and mailed them overseas to 32-year-old Jeremy, a chief petty officer with the Navy.
"He e-mailed, saying - you wouldn't believe it - there were guys walking a mile or a mile-and-a-half to his camp, just to swing those golf clubs," Denny Lynch said. "It's dangerous enough without them walking that far. So we started sending more."
Now, the project sends enough golf clubs each time to supply an entire military unit. Usually, someone in that unit has ties to the Quad-Cities, but that's not a rule.
"It's word-of-mouth," Denny Lynch said. "We hear from people who say they have friends or family over there and they give us names."
The couple only mails golf clubs to soldiers who are referred to them, by name, via a relative or friend. And they only mail them after they connect by e-mail and verify that their superiors are OK with the unit receiving a shipment of golf clubs.
Any day now, Stanley's unit will be receiving two boxes full of clubs and balls from the Lynches - and the rest of the Quad-Citians who donated to the cause.
This will be the second time he has benefited from the project. When he was stationed in Iraq last year, from February to September 2008, his unit received golf clubs the same way and "it was awesome," he said.
"We just had a blast," he added. "It was a way to get our minds off of everything and just have fun."
When they left, the golf clubs were passed on to other military personnel to use.
Now, after returning to the Middle East just a few weeks ago, the U.S. Navy hospital corpsman 3rd class, stationed with the U.S. Marines out of Camp LeJeune, said the unit is expecting its next shipment of golf supplies any day now.
"We're really excited," he said. "There's not as much open space here. It's more populated and condensed, so we've already been making plans on making up some kind of netting so we can hit balls into the net."
Even though the Lynches are from Stanley's hometown, the couple and the young sailor have never met. But that doesn't matter. Their hearts have been touched by each other's service.
Speaking from Iraq, Stanley said it's hard to explain how grateful he and his comrades feel about their golf-themed gift.
"There is often so much going on here that we lose track of the fun things and get into a routine of just doing the same stuff day in and day out," he said. "We forget about the fun, stress-relieving activities we are able to enjoy freely back in the States.
"I don't think I could even let them say thank you to me for my service before I would want to say thank you to them for taking the time and effort to donate those items to help us relax and let loose, if even for a couple minutes a day."
Ellie