MILTON — On May 21, Armed Forces Day, The VFW, Post 4833 of Milton, held its 9th annual "Honor Your Vet" golf tournament at the Tanglewood Golf Course.
Stan Abrams, chairman, said, “It was another very successful tournament. We had 25 teams that enjoyed the hot and sweltering weather.”
The tournament honors veterans who are now serving the country. “However, our primary focus, this year, was to honor and memorialize a young Marine corporal, Jonathan R. Spears, who was killed on Oct. 23, 2005 while serving his country, on his second tour to Iraq,” Abrams said. “J.R., as he was better known by his family and friends, told his parents that, if a Marine in his unit has to die, he would rather it be him than a fellow Marine who had a wife and children back home."
Sadly, that is exactly what happened as he was the only one killed in his unit that day.
The Spears family set up a J.R. Spears Memorial Endowed Scholarship through Pensacola State College Foundation.
“We proudly donated $2,000 to his scholarship from the proceeds of our tournament,” Abrams said. “All the other proceeds of our golf tournament go to help local veterans and veteran families in our community.”
The post has contributed over $38,000 to help vets and their families in one way or another, according to a media release.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: VFW golf tournament collects $2K for scholarship fund