Side of Ranch: Jay Heater

It was a storage room upstairs in our home, and the garment bag hung inside a pine armoire for years, tucked away from the rest of the world.

Except for my world.

As a little kid, I used to venture inside that storage room, curious about that garment bag. I would unzip it and look inside, finding a Marine Corps uniform as if it was brand new on the sales rack. The uniform felt kind of rough, wool I guess. Some kind of medals were attached, and I believe some corporal stripes.

I knew nothing about the story behind the uniform or where it had been, even though it was my dad's.

That was curious since I knew he was a Marine. In the bottom of that armoire was a Marines Corps manual, which I would flip through. I would come to the page with the Marine Corps hymn.

"From the Halls of Montezuma

To the shores of Tripoli;

We fight our country's battles

In the air, on land, and sea."

I knew all the words because whenever we were riding in the car on a Sunday, my dad would sing it. Over and over.

When it came to Marine Corps pride, my dad was at the top of the list. Aside from that pride, though, I knew nothing about the Marines. Nothing.

He didn't talk about his involvement in Korea, in an offensive that went terribly wrong. I found out about that years later from a college professor who was in the service with my dad. The professor talked about Korea just about every day.

When my dad died, I was cleaning out the house. In the back of his bedroom closet was a paper bag full of photos from Korea. It was the most information I would get.

All this ran through my mind on Jan. 30 as I attended the Homes For Our Troops benefit golf tournament at Rosedale Golf and Country Club. The event sold out in four days, which shows a little about the heart of our community.

I chatted with Army Capt. Bobby Withers, who would look like any other guy except for that mechanical right leg that was needed to replace the one destroyed by a mine in Afghanistan. The Winter Garden resident was all smiles, too, swinging a golf club and enjoying a beautiful Saturday on the course.

What Withers didn't say, at least to his playing partners or those who were present to help a very important cause, was that his body still is full of shrapnel from that anti-personnel mine explosion. He faces a lifetime of surgeries and his prognosis is uncertain. Even playing nine holes of golf can present an intolerable amount of pain.

He admitted that, at times, he wonders if veterans will be forgotten as our country distances itself from Afghanistan. Withers also said that he loves events like the benefit fundraiser, because it gets him into the sun. Sitting at home can lead to dark thoughts.

A USA Today report stated that 22 U.S. service veterans commit suicide each day while the Military Suicide Research Consortium estimates the number to be closer to seven. Obviously, either of those numbers is alarming.

If anyone doubts the importance of events like the one at Rosedale Golf and Country Club, they need to spend a little time with Withers. Besides raising funds to buy homes for these severely injured vets, those who participated in the fundraiser draw attention to our soldiers, who let's face it, toil in anonymity both in service to our country and after they get home.

A big high-five goes to Rosedale Golf and Country Club for allowing me the honor of spending time with Withers, along with a couple of other severely injured veterans, Army Staff Sgt. Christopher Gordon and Marine Cpl. Josh Langston-White.

It might have taken me some time, but I understand the meaning of that uniform.