A Pivotal Flight Prompted Lt. Col. Dan Rooney to Create Folds of Honor, Supporting Families of Fallen Service Members

During his return home after a second deployment in Iraq, Lt. Col. Dan Rooney experienced a pivotal moment that would alter the course of his life.

While awaiting transportation at Chicago O’Hare Airport en route to Grand Rapids, Michigan, Rooney boarded United Flight 664 and noticed a corporal seated in first class. After the aircraft touched down, the pilot announced over the intercom, revealing the identity of the servicemember.

The pilot disclosed that the flight was carrying the remains of Corporal Brock Bucklin, who had been killed in Iraq, along with his identical twin brother, Corporal Brad Bucklin, who was seated in first class. “I’d seen a lot of hardship in combat, as many veterans have,” said Rooney in a recent GOLF Subpar podcast. “But I’d never witnessed this side of war. Watching his family—the darkest night of their lives—as his brother’s body was carried off the tarmac, along with his parents, wife, and a 4‑year‑old son, was heartbreaking. As a proud father of five, that perspective as a parent truly broke my heart.”

As he disembarked, Rooney described feeling “the hand of God.”

This encounter sparked the idea for Folds of Honor. After discussing it with his wife, the initiative quickly grew. Nearly two decades later, the organization has awarded more than 86,000 educational scholarships valued at almost $400 million to spouses and children of fallen or disabled military service members and first responders. Golf remains a central focus, pillar, and major fundraising source for the charity.

Purpose, he said, drives the mission. “What are you willing to die for? What gives meaning to your life? That’s the great gift of Folds of Honor—to give all of us who are part of it a sense of belonging to something larger than ourselves and to support these military families.”

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