Maj. Dan Rooney

Age: 41
Home state: Oklahoma
Cause: Veterans’ Education

Flying from his home to a family-owned golf course in Michigan, Rooney was pained to see, on the tarmac, a family with the flag-draped coffin of a soldier killed in Iraq. The pilot-turned-PGA-golf-pro — slated to return to the Air National Guard as a fighter pilot in December — began raising money for survivors by asking golfers to chip in extra on greens fees. His Folds of Honor charity has funded over 7,500 scholarships for families of fallen soldiers; grants amounted to $10 million this fall alone.

Says Rooney:

Giving dependents an education will help them for the rest of their lives."