Folds of Honor Friday uplifts families, renews hope

Faced with an interminable stretch of time to recover from a horrific accident, his emotions waffling from helplessness to excruciating pain, Michael Lammey had ample opportunities to search his soul.

The greatest takeaway? “God does exist. He’s here among us," he said.

He delivers those words quietly and orderly, but with profound certainty. Then Lammey offers with a comparable sense of gratitude his thoughts for being connected to the Folds of Honor Foundation.

“It has changed the dynamics of my life. Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney has surely inspired (me)," Lammey said. "It’s hard not to have had all my experiences and not believe in a higher purpose.”

Connecting the dots between where Lammey was and where he is requires a strong stomach for the events that changed his life. Imagine the day of Dec. 1, 2006, when a section of the boiler system split open aboard the USS Frank Cable in Guam and six sailors in the fireroom were badly burned, two of them eventually dying.

Good gracious, the heroism displayed by this group of men to prevent an even more catastrophic accident.

U.S. Navy Petty Officer First Class Michael Lammey suffered third-degree burns on 48 percent of his body and was medevacked to San Antonio, Texas.

“It was a big rehab process, more than 50 surgeries (over the years),” said Lammey. “Overwhelming, really. (At first) it was very hard to see the blessings.”

In other words, how could Lammey lay in a hospital and envision a world of joy and good health? In those early days, it would have been impossible for Lammey to picture a world in which his wife and three daughters would be introduced to support groups; that St. Anthony’s Catholic High School would open its doors and its parishioners’ hearts to his daughters, Francine, Alexis and Mackenzie; that a caregiver retreat would lead his wife, Rose, to the Folds of Honor; that Lt. Col. Rooney’s incomparable charity would ask Lammey to join its speakers’ bureau; that in the summer of 2024, the former Navy Petty Officer First Class would be part of an initiative on the PGA TOUR called Folds of Honor Friday in which the national anthem and displays of patriotism would be folded into the proceedings.

“Without question, all these things that have happened validate the faith I maintained during the rough patches," Lammey said.

Folds of Honor Friday at select PGA TOUR tournaments is the latest blessing to enter Lammey’s world. Designed with three key elements – a national anthem played during the day, a salute to service and encouraging patrons to wear red, white and blue – the program was featured at tournaments across the PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions and the Korn Ferry Tour.

“I loved it. I love to see patriots come up to me and say hello and to thank me for my service,” said Lammey, who attended Folds of Honor Friday at the 2024 Memorial Tournament presented by Workday. “There are very proud Americans everywhere.”

When Folds of Honor Friday was held Oct. 25 at the Simmons Bank Championship in Little Rock, Arkansas, Lt. Col. Rooney stood at the first tee and heard the national anthem, then delivered the opening tee shot.

As he stood nearby and watched, PGA TOUR Champions standout and Folds’ supporter Ken Duke felt a rush of warmth.

“It is a great way to kick off a tournament, to hear the national anthem,” said Duke. “What (Folds of Honor) does for the families of the men and women in service is unbelievable.”

Lt. Col. Rooney, who started Folds of Honor in 2007 and has seen it grow into a charitable organization that has awarded about 62,000 scholarships for nearly $290 million, noted: “We have an opportunity (with Folds of Honor Friday) to be part of a great legacy. It’s an honor to serve these heroic families together with the PGA TOUR.”

At each site that hosts a Folds of Honor Friday – and plans call for even more in 2025 – 13 academic scholarships are awarded on behalf of the tournament to military and first responder family members.

That resonates deeply Lammey, whose lengthy rehabilitation period put a tremendous burden on his family. With a sense of overwhelming gratitude, especially on the eve of Veterans Day, Lammey is forever thankful at scholarships awarded to his wife and two of his daughters.

Rose Lammey used her scholarship to earn a BA in advertising and marketing; their middle daughter Alexis was helped through the University of Texas at San Antonio, from where she has graduated; and their youngest daughter Mackenzie is putting her scholarship to use at Texas Tech, where she is a junior.

As for Francine, his oldest daughter who had already graduated before the family heard about Folds of Honor scholarships, “she was in her twenties when she told us she wanted to do something with her life,” said Lammey.

The young woman’s decision? “She joined the Navy and is currently deployed to the USS Boxer in the Philippines Sea," Lammey said.

Not surprisingly, Lammey factors that news in with so many other positive turns his life has taken since he faced great uncertainty after the accident.

“It was always so very hard to see any blessings in my life,” said Lammey. “But Dan (Rooney) and Folds of Honor came into my life and so did the nurses and priests, all of them always so upbeat. They helped me through my darkest hours.”