John Sodaro, a senior video producer on our staff, is the kind of guy you want to clone many times.
Call me biased – John has been a colleague of mine for years – but it’s a statement I’m standing by! John is not only an extremely talented producer, but he is also hardworking, humble and well-liked by everyone he crosses paths with.
He also rarely talks about himself. But on a shoot in Florida last December, while the three of us were on vacation, I asked John about his career before the video. I was surprised to learn that he was an NYPD officer in Brooklyn as well as a US Marine.
I was even more impressed when I learned that John is a third generation soldier. His grandfather was a B-17 tail gunner in World War II who was shot down and spent the rest of the war as a POW before coming home with two amputated legs. John’s uncle was a Marine in Vietnam who fought during the Tet Offensive, and John’s father earned a Bronze Star for valor as an airborne infantryman, also in Vietnam.
As a Marine himself, John deployed twice to Iraq, in 2006 and ’07.
After returning to civilian life, John took a job in video production Sports Illustratedwhere i met him Work – and golf – gave him a much-needed break.
“For me and many other veterans, golf was my therapy when I got back from Iraq,” John said. “It’s a chance to get away from it all. Sometimes that’s all a veteran can ask for: peace and company that’s far away from the battlefield.”
Earlier this year, John shot and produced a moving video around American Dunesa Jack Nicklaus design in Grand Haven, Mich., that Folds of Honor founder and fighter pilot Lt. Col. Dan Rooney brought to fruition. The course entrance houses the Folds of Honor memorial, which displays photos and biographies of our country’s fallen heroes. All course proceeds are donated to the Folds of Honor Foundation, which provides scholarships to families of fallen and disabled American service members and first responders.
“I left American Dunes humbled and grateful,” John said, “thinking about those who fought before me, those who fought alongside me, and those who fight for us now and in the future.”
On behalf of all of us at GOLF, thank you for your service, John. And Happy Veterans Day to all those who have served and are serving our country.
To hear more about John’s story and his experience at American Dunes, watch the Instagram video above.
