The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
NAVY SEAL HONORED
Golf outing at Elyria Country Club benefits Naked Warrior Project
Local golfers gathered at Elyria Country Club, 41625 Oberlin Elyria Road, to honor and raise money to help those who were injured or killed while serving in a U.S. military special operations unit.
“Our group is called Naked Warrior Project, and we focus on military service members who were part of Navy SEALS and other Special Ops groups,” said John Owens, president of Naked Warrior Project and a former Navy SEAL. “The idea for the organization came after my brother, William Ryan Owens, was killed January 2017 while serving as a member of the Navy SEALS.
“I started the group as a way
“Money is being raised to honor the fallen, but the second tier of that is to help those who were injured as well.”
— John Owens, president of Naked Warrior Project
to honor him and all the members of the Special Ops Unit in our military who have served.”
Owens described the Project’s mission as twotier.
“Money is being raised to honor the fallen, but the second tier of that is to help those who were injured as well,” he said. “The current goal is to raise funds for a memorial for my brother in Florida and work to memorialize other fallen Special Ops service members.
“My family is from Deerfield Beach, Fla., that is where our group is based out of, but I met Ryan Flanigan, with General Plug [and Manufacturing] during our annual run for my brother. He talked about doing something in northern Ohio. That is how this golf outing fundraiser happened.”
Owens said all the money raised from the event is going directly to the memorial for his brother.
“We are completely a 501 c3, nonprofit organization,” he said. “Everyone that works for the Project are volunteers.
“It’s great to see all the folks who came out here to provide support. These people in Ohio don’t even know who I am or what the organization is, but they hear the story of my brother and want to support the project. There is an amazing bunch of people here.”
Flanigan, purchasing manager at General Plug, said the event was something he wanted to bring to the area because of the fundraising component.
“That was something I thought was a great fit right here in northern Ohio,” he said. “It’s truly for a great cause, and I’m glad we were able to set up a great event here at the Country Club.”