We all know that the word “hero” can be bandied about even under sometimes un-warranted circumstances. Recently while attending the WNY PGA Spring Meeting at Transit Valley CC, I had the pleasure of being in the presence of a true American hero. Army Major Ed Pulido was the guest speaker at the meeting and his story was one of the most moving and inspirational speeches that I have witnessed.
With his clipped, slightly greying hair, his stocky frame and military gait, Major Pulido looked every bit the part of an Army hero. When he finished telling his story, the word “hero” served to begin this recollection.
Major Pulido told of how he was wounded in a road-side explosion while serving in Iraq in 2004. The major suffered leg, chest and head wounds from the shrapnel. With his life hanging in the balance, he was medivac’d to a hospital facility in slightly under 45 minutes. The medics were able to stabilized his wounds and save his life, but, were not able to save his shattered leg.
From Iraq, he went to an Army Hospital in Germany and then on to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC. That is where, he said, he began ‘his new life’.
What makes this story even more poignant is Major Pulido’s relationship with the PGA’s Patriot Golf program. He brought the gathering to a hushed silence with his words and slides of the children of fallen heroes who have benefited from the Patriot Golf program.
Patriot Golf was started by Captain Dan Rooney, a PGA professional and an F-16 Fighter Pilot in the Oklahoma Air National Guard. While returning the body of a fallen soldier to the soldier’s home in Minnesota, Captain Rooney was overwhelmed by the emotion of the people waiting for the body at the airport. At that moment, he decided that he needed to do something to honor those who had made the ultimate sacrifice to defend our freedom.
Capt. Rooney founded the Folds of Honor Foundation ® ‘to provide post secondary educational scholarships for children and spouses of military service men and women killed or disabled while serving our great nation ‘. As he so eloquently put it, “We have lost so many soldiers who have given the ultimate sacrifice. America can come together in the spirit of golf and have a dramatic impact. We have an opportunity to make a difference for the families who have made the ultimate sacrifice.”
Major Pulido’s daughters, Kaitlyn and Kinsley, were the 3rd and 4th recipients of the Folds of Honor Foundations scholarship program.
In closing, Major Pulido told how a General at Walter Reed suggested that he had not lost his leg, but had merely given it to secure the freedoms that we all treasure so dearly.
I personally would like to offer a hearty thanks to Major Pulido and all of the men and women who have given so much and suffered so much so that we all can live in this great country.
