Community Corner

Golfers Tee Off for Wounded Marines

Local club expects to raise about $20,000.

Sgt. Jason Swofford was leading a squad of Marines in north Helmand Province in Afghanistan in 2009.

He and his men chased the enemy into a building. Two Marines ran in ahead of Swofford–the first breezed through the door, but the second stepped on the trigger for an improvised explosive device rigged into the doorframe.

The blast blew off the Marine's leg and he lost a large part of the muscle in his flank. The explosion also slammed Swofford on his left side.

Find out what's happening in San Clementewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

That dark doorway couldn't have seemed further away as Swofford told the story of the thick scar that runs from his jaw line into the neck of his polo shirt. He stood outside the clubhouse of the San Clemente Municipal Golf Course getting ready to tee off with members of the San Clemente Exchange Club on a sunny Monday morning.

Money will go to the Wounded Warriors Battalion to pay for prosthetics, physical and mental therapy, and a host of other services.

Find out what's happening in San Clementewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Wounded Warriors have just built a brand new gymnasium with state-of-the-art physical therapy equipment and services, and the organization is expanding all the time, Swofford said.

The golf tournament also benefits Military Family Services, which offers a host of services to the spouses and children of Marines, such as paying for plane fare to be with a husband in a hospital in Maryland.

Some of the cash will also help maintain .

“I’m a Vietnam veteran, and after I came home, [the public] kicked our [butt] and didn’t give us [crap],” said the Exchange Club’s Hank Snyder. “We weren’t going to let these kids go without anything.”

Some 36 Camp Pendleton Marines played golf for free Monday, one on each of 36 teams. A dinner was slated for later in the evening, hosting the Marines and keynote speaker Lt. Gen. Thomas D. Waldhauser, commanding general of the First Marine Expeditionary Force and all Marine forces on the West Coast.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here