One evening I walked into a golf clubhouse to meet my husband and his friends. He had already told me that he was chatting with a bunch of fellow veterans at the bar and I had ridden to a charity event with a friend, so I decided to get dropped off with him and drive him home. I mean, who doesn’t love hearing these stories and witnessing the camaraderie?

    What I walked into wasn’t a jovial retelling of stories. It was frustration from some and the willingness to help from others. What were they talking about? VA disability. What I learned in the 30 minutes I spent with these men before the clubhouse closed was that every single one of them had to hire a third party to collect their VA disability. These men broke their bodies down in the service. Some saw combat, some did not. Either way, the mental strain of being in the service can be seen in their eyes. It is no secret that the US military breaks you down to build you back up.

    Think about it - 7 different men, from different branches, that served at different times - all had to pay to get compensation that they deserved for serving their country. It truly broke my heart.

    I am the granddaughter of US Army Air Corps veteran and pilot Jay N. Greer, Jr. He never spoke about the war. I only knew that he met my grandmother because he was stationed with her brother, Johnnie Laughlin, who was killed in action bombing Hitler’s oil fields in Ploestria, Romania. He is buried in a grave with the other men on that flight. Their bodies had fused together and the burial site is equal distances from all of the families (we will touch more on this later). I do not believe that my great grandmother truly ever recovered. So I have seen first hand the trauma that remains long after service is completed.

    I started trying to think of ways to help in a sustainable way. Little did I know, my husband and his friend, Bubba, had already begun working on something that came to them on the course one day. They, along with the rest of their childhood friends, started taking a golf trip yearly. They have met a lot of interesting people on these trips and courses in our area, and many of these men were veterans. They came up with the idea for Dirtie Birdie on the course one day after a conversation with a group of men, much like the one I witnessed in that clubhouse.

   Dirtie = our heroes with boots on the ground, in the trenches, doing a job most people don’t want to do.

   Birdie = self explanatory

   We vow to use a percentage of each sale to provide meals for veterans in our area. One day we hope to provide holiday meals, Christmas gifts, rides to VA appointments, all of the things that we know are needed. Help to the spouses and children of disabled and deceased service members. The sky really is the limit at this point.

   Thank you for visiting our site. Thank you for supporting our cause. Thank you for believing that the men and women who have served this country deserve more than what they are given.

Lauren Jackson