By: Rex R. Yentes
Babson Park, Fla. - This past week the Marine Base at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina, hosted the 39th Annual Marine Corps Intercollegiate Golf Tournament. Camp LeJeune has two 18-hole golf courses on base. 32 NAIA and NCAA Division III teams are invited annually. To be invited the school has to be one of the top NAIA or Division III teams in the nation. This was the fourth year that Webber's golf team has been invited to participate. Every year my son, Matt, has driven the team (5 players) and each year he has asked me to go along. I really could not go in the past, but this year he asked me to go and I thought, “Why not?”
We left on Tuesday, March 23 and drove through to Myrtle Beach (12 hours straight). We spent a short night in Myrtle Beach and on Wednesday we all played golf at Coastal Carolina University's course. After the round we drove on to Jacksonville, N.C., the home of Camp LeJeune. Thursday, the team played a practice round on the Scarlet course at Camp LeJeune. Thursday evening, the Marines hosted a Welcome Dinner for the teams at the Officers Club.
One of the unique things about the event is that the collegiate players get paired up for a Best Ball 2-day tournament with a retired Marine or a “Wounded Warrior” (a Marine who is at the base rehabilitating from a battle wound). On Thursday evening when we were seated at our table for the Welcome Banquet, we were joined by Staff Sergeant James Simmons, a 15-year Marine veteran, who recently returned from Afghanistan having been shot in the head. James told us that he was in Helmand Province at the head of his 45-man platoon when they got into a fire fight with the Taliban. His helmet saved his life. He actually had the helmet in his truck and following dinner he showed it to us. The bullet entered his helmet almost directly in the middle of his forehead. The helmets are made of Kevlar and the material is such that it slows the bullet down. On his helmet there was about a 5-inch indentation where the bullet went and eventually the bullet lodged in the pad that the Marines wear on top of their heads under the helmet. The pad was torn and slightly burned. The impact from the bullet knocked him out and he had fairly severe concussion. He is at Camp LeJeune being evaluated and rehabilitating. He, of course, received the Purple Heart. This was not the first time that James had been shot. During the Iraq War, he was shot 3 times: twice in the chest (saved by bullet-proof vest) and once in the head (again saved by the helmet). By the way, his hope is that he will be able to return to Afghanistan in January!!!
On Friday James played with our player, Alex Carpenhall, and a player from Washington and Lee University. After Friday's play on the Gold Course, Webber's team score was 285 (3 under par) and leading the tournament. James and Alex's Best Ball team was 14 under at 58 and also were leading the Best Ball portion of the event.
On Saturday, the boys played the Scarlet Course (Par 70) where they shot a 3 under 277. They were now second to Methodist University, the nation's number 1 ranked Division III team and the winner of
The event the last 2 years. James and Alex's team shot another 58 in the Best Ball event. Since the boys played in the morning, we did not know how well their team had done for the day. Following play, James took us on a fantastic tour of the Base. I think that we were in areas where we should not have been, but James did not seem too concerned about it.
Saturday evening the Marines hosted an Awards Dinner for the Best Ball portion of the event, again in the Officers Club. The highlight of the evening was that James, Alex and the player from Washington and Lee won the Best Ball event with a score of 116!! James did not want to go up to receive his award but we forced him to do it anyway. The boys all had on Webber dress shirts and Matt had one for James which he proudly wore to get his prize.
On Sunday our team members were in the final group with the top 4 teams: Methodist U. was in first place, Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) was third, and Oglethorpe U. of Atlanta was fourth. SCAD was 5 strokes behind us and Oglethorpe was 7 strokes behind us, and we were 6 back of Methodist. It was a typical spring day in North Carolina, very, very high winds.
Even though he didn't have to be, James came to the course to support the team. He drove around encouraging our boys. Unfortunately Webber fell short. We shot 20 over par on the Gold Course to finish in 4th place with a 370, Oglethorpe was 3rd with a 368, SCAD was 2nd with 356 and Methodist repeated as champions with 349. I was so proud of our guys finishing 4th out of 32 very top-notched teams, but the main thing is you could not find 5 nicer young men: Craig Isabel (senior), Matt Bransby (senior), Alex Carpenhall (freshman), Tom Gamble (sophomore), and Adam Galbraith (freshman). Four of the boys: Craig, Matt, Tom and Adam are from England, while Alex is from Sweden.
For my British friends, I might mention that James told us that his platoon was with a British unit of 12 in Afghanistan that were doing something called, OMELET, which is some kind of acronym for making friends with Afghani villagers. He said that they were a very impressive group, in particular the woman medic who was not only beautiful, but carried a back pack that weighed about 200 lbs.
Sunday we said good-bye to James. I have to tell you that I was a bit emotional about saying good-bye. You know we read about the “surge” and Helmand Province, and all of that is very abstract. But to actually meet someone who has actually been there and been wounded in the process was very, very moving. Further he wants to go back because he feels real progress is being made. To me, Staff Sergeant James Simmons is a true American hero. I will never forget meeting him. I wish that God will bless him and keep him safe and help him to recover completely from his wounds.
The next time that any of us whine about our Congressmen and government officials, just remember the brave men and women who are laying their lives down for us. God bless James Simmons and all of our military men and women.
