Today we’d like to introduce you to Scott Kuhnen.
Hi Scott, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Retired in 2014 after serving 40 years in the USAF (4 yrs. active duty & 36-year civilian).
Looking to keep serving and having been active in softball for all that time, as well, I created a host committee of “senior” softballers who were also veterans to invite the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team (now USA Patriots Amputee Softball Team) to the Greater Dayton area to raise funds for local veterans’ causes.
https://usapatriotsathletics.org/
In our first year of hosting in 2016, we raised $11K to donate to a new Fisher House being constructed at the Dayton VA Medical Center. Games were played at Wright State University (WSU), just outside of Dayton, and our host committee received support from the WSU Veteran & Military Center (VMC). The VMC was delighted to host our amputee players to share their stories as part of the VMC’s oral history program, which records the experiences of veterans.
Showing great support for veterans is a hallmark of the Greater Dayton community and in that spirit, our guest with the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team were hosted for a “Welcome to Dayton” Friday night dinner at the hangar of the Wright B Flyer. Each player received a complimentary flight on the Wright B Flyer.
Our hosting included two games of the amputee softballers against teams of able-bodied senior softballers in one game and local military & 2st responder softballers in the other. In order to bring added attention to our event and to involve the amputee players as much as possible, we created a between-game ceremony honoring Vietnam Veterans.
Our ceremony was patterned after long-time Cincinnati Reds broadcaster and Hall of Famer Joe Nuxhall, who signed off every broadcast by telling his listeners he was “rounding 3rd and heading for home.” Using that as our theme, we invited Vietnam Veterans to come out of the first base dugout circle the bases, where they were welcomes and thanked by local dignitaries from our sponsors at the Dayton VA, Wright-Patterson AFB, local Police & Fire Chiefs, and our beneficiary, Fisher Houses. At each base, Vietnam Veterans received mementos and were thanked for their service. Between 3rd base and home plate, each veteran was also greet by and thanked by the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team players. These between-game ceremonies became the most remarkable portion of the day’s activities and became a staple in future hostings of the team.
Our success led to another invite to the team to return to the Dayton area the following year and the expansion of veteran beneficiaries to include Honor Flight-Dayton. That 2017 hosting included a new variation of our between-game ceremony, this time recognizing Women in the Military.
In 2018, the USA Patriots could not wait to return to Dayton, and our between-game ceremonies honored Gold Star Families…those who have lost family members in service to their country. And, to make that same weekend extra special, our games coincided with the christening of a Gold Star Family Monument newly opened at the National Museum of the USAF. This labor of love was the result of the work of members of our host committee, Jim & Leslie Groves, of Kettering, Ohio who lost a son in service. The tie to the team was palpable as one of the USA Patriots Amputee players, Rob Vande Zande (and his wife, Debi) are also a Gold Star Family who lost a son while in service.
Our final hosting fell in 2019, but only due to the start of the pandemic, when both the team and numerous venues found it too difficult to arrange for players to stay with their mission.
While the primary fund-raising was the result our hostings of the USA Patriots Amputee Softball Team, since the expense for the team’s players to visit our area must be borne by the host site, we created veteran-centric golf outings which have run each year since 2017. These golf outings allow the committee to bank funds needed to host (typically about $10K). However, if/when we then decide we are unable to host, these funds are then turned over to our primary beneficiaries.
Our most recent golf outing in September of 2023 saw the disbursement of funds to Fisher House ($6000), Honor Flight-Dayton ($6000), and the USA Patriots Amputee Softball Kid’s Camp ($1050) and, with the addition of a new activity hosted by our local Waste Management sponsor, a motorcycle ride, we have created a new theme for future hosting’s: “Bikers & Bogeys.”
Our local Greater Dayton area is full of veterans, softballers, golfers, and local veteran-interested businesses who are happy to support such worthwhile causes. And, because the host committee is composed of “seniors” who are almost all retirees…there is no overhead, and all funds go to worthwhile veteran organizations also from our immediate area. Our theme: “Honoring OUR Veterans & Helping OUR Community.”
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Happy to report that while we have been highly successful, we also like to say that we can’t go anywhere in our immediate area that the leaders of our primary beneficiaries (Fisher House & Honor Flight-Dayton) haven’t already been! However, our area is also the home of the state’s largest single employer, Wright-Patterson AFB.
Between the help the base is willing to offer, the support of the Veteran & Military Center of Wright State University, and numerous veteran-centric employers, we have exceeded expectations and have helped many along the way.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Retired after 36 years working as a civilian employee of the USAF at Wright-Patterson AFB. Served in multiple capacities and programs (Standardization & Scientific & Technical Information) for both the Aeronautical Systems Center (ASC) and Air Force Material Command (AFMC). Both programs were situated in Engineering Departments, but I may have the distinction of having never served a single day as an engineer myself.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
With regard to volunteering and serving the community, I like to think there is no limit to the ways that interested and energetic contributors can’t make an impact. For my own part, I have been invited to help additional veteran fund-raising efforts like a new Veteran Memorial being built in Greene County, Ohio.
Contact Info:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WoundedWarriorSoftballinDayton
- Other: https://honorflightdayton.org/ https://www.fnhi.org/
Image Credits
Richard (Dick) Smith
USAF Retired
