A Veterans Day Tradition at Wampatuck
The Wampatuck Veterans Charity Golf Tournament is an annual Veterans Day tradition started informally over 30 years ago by Wampatuck military veterans. It began as an informal Veterans Day golf outing among Wampatuck Country Club members who had served in the US armed forces, many of whom had served in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. The veterans would pool their money to pay for food and drinks after the golf outing. After a few years and as the golf outing became more popular among the Wampatuck membership, there was suddenly money left over after bar tab was paid. It was around 1996 that three Vietnam veterans and long-time Wampatuck members Jim Mahoney, John Sullivan, and Kevin Morrissey met and decided to donate the excess funds to veterans’ charities/organizations…thus began the annual Wampatuck Veterans Charity Golf Tournament.
With the support of the Wampatuck membership, Jim, John, and Kevin (founding members of the Wampatuck Veterans Committee) have continued to run the tournament every year since those initial donations were made to veterans’ organizations. Every year the tournament has grown bigger and more successful thanks to the generosity of the Wampatuck membership and our friends. Our measure of success is the funds that we are able to donate every year to veterans causes/organizations. Over the years you have been responsible for more than $330,000 in donations through your generosity. More than $80,000 was donated from the 2021 tournament. Thanks to your generosity the Wampatuck Veterans Charity Golf Tournament has truly turned out to be a blockbuster fundraiser, raising big money to help support the men and women who have served in the armed forces. In 2021, to prove that inter-service cooperation is possible, the three Army veterans, Jim, John, and Kevin, welcomed a couple of Marines to the Wampatuck Veteran Committee, Ken Starr, Rob Dickson, along with one of our most generous supporters, Tony Giordano.
The veterans committee works diligently vetting out the organizations/causes who receive funds to ensure your donations go to the Veterans themselves, and not to the salaries of the executives running them. Some of the local and national organizations that have received donations from the Wampatuck Veterans include:
• American Legion• Braintree Vietnam Vets
• Canton Vets Tournament
• Town of Canton Vets
• Cape & Islands Vets
• Disabled American Veterans
• Fisher House
• Folds of Honor
• Gary Sinise Foundation
• Healing on the Fly
• Home Base
• Homes for our Troops
• NE Home and Center for Vets
• Town of Norwood Vets
• Town of Easton Vets
• Our Military Kids
• Army veteran/Canton Police Sergeant Ruane
• TAPS
• USO
• VFW
• Wampatuck Veterans' Scholarship
The Wampatuck Veterans Committee thanks you for your generosity and continued support of veterans’ charities. We are grateful for the many Wampatuck members and golfers who have played in the tournament over the years and continue to contribute year after year. The tradition of this tournament and the legacy of giving back, that began with the WWII, Korea, and Vietnam veterans of Wampatuck is being carried on through you. We are proud to see the new generation of veterans from more recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan carrying-on the legacy of their forebearers at Wampatuck.
By playing in the Wampatuck Veterans Charity Golf Tournament, you are having an impact on the men and women who fought and sacrificed themselves for our freedom. Freedom is not Free!
Sincerely,The Wampatuck Veterans Committee
Jim Mahoney
John Sullivan
Kevin Morrissey
Ken Starr
Tony Giordano
Rob Dickson
Bobby Barrett
Marie Pezzone