Wounded warriors tee up in Va. charity game

Army Staff Sgt. (ret.) Charles Eggleston knocks a chip shot on the green during the ThanksUSA Charity Golf Tournament. He is both a Purple Heart and Bronze Star recipient. (WTOP/Andrew Mollenbeck)
Cpl. Christopher Alan Bowers lost his left leg below the knee while serving in Iraq. "Just because I'm missing half my leg doesn't mean that I can't play with a guy that has nothing wrong with him," he says. (WTOP/Andrew Mollenbeck)
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Andrew Mollenbeck, wtop.com

GAINESVILLE, Va. – A body full of titanium or one that’s missing a leg should at least be worth a mulligan.

But wounded warriors teeing it up at the ThanksUSA Charity Golf Tournament aren’t prone to using a foot wedge or invoking winter rules.

“Just because I’m missing half my leg doesn’t mean that I can’t play with a guy that has nothing wrong with him,” says Cpl. Christopher Alan Bowers, who served seven years in the Marine Corps.

He lost his left leg below the knee during a tour in Iraq.

“We all share different circumstances with our injuries and our rehab,” he says. “It’s just great to see guys playing golf, doing things that they probably wouldn’t have done unless they had gotten hurt.”

While he was talking about the tournament for military veterans, Army Staff Sgt. Charles Eggleston hooked an approach shot that bounced over his golf cart. Eggleston plays in trousers, which match the boldness that earned him a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star.

“I really don’t have any challenges other than a bunch of titanium in my body,” he says. “We just like to kick some of these able-bodied folks’ butts from time to time.”

Eggleston went through more than three years of treatment at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

“The way we are in the military, we have no excuse and no regrets,” he says.

Eggleston promptly walked to his errant approach shot in the rough and stuck it on the green.

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(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)

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