Lieutenant Colonel Jay Sirmon peers out the window of a deer stand on Titan Farms during the first hunt of the weekend.
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Two sets of fathers and sons who are all Clemson University alumni with servant hearts have teamed up to provide the experience of a lifetime for South Carolina combat veterans. Five men participated in a two-day hunt during deer hunting season this past December, laying a foundation for future experiences for even more veterans.

Chalmers Carr ’90, his father, retired Air Force Brigadier General “Hap” Carr ‘60, and Kevin Rhodes ‘00, and his father, retired U.S. Army Colonel Danny Rhodes ’68, may seem like an unlikely quartet, but they all share Clemson’s core values of integrity, respect and patriotism. Together they decided to pay it forward to deserving service members, all in the Clemson spirit of selfless service.

Land and Opportunity

Chalmers Carr owns Titan Farms, a sprawling 6,200-acre peach farm in Ridge Spring that sweeps up and over the gently rolling hills of central South Carolina, with neat rows of trees stretching like waves, as far as the eye can see. It is an impressive operation that employs more than 900 people (his father being one of them, as a senior consultant) and produces more peaches each year than the entire state of Georgia, the “Peach State.”

Alumni Kevin Rhodes is the founder of B4 Outdoors, a nonprofit that provides veterans, first responders, law enforcement officers and youth with life-changing outdoor adventures through hunting and fishing. He seeks out landowners and opportunities for therapeutic hunting experiences.  

Kevin Rhodes (left), a 2000 Clemson graduate and owner of B4 Outdoors, chats with one of his veteran hunters as they drive into Titan Farms, Dec. 6, 2024.

In 2023, Rhodes — familiar with the size and scope of Titan Farms — approached the younger Carr with the idea that they could work together. The bounty of sweet fruit trees at Titan Farms has proven irresistible to the local deer population, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars of crop damage. So to thin the herd, Carr has, for years, invited a small number of people, largely Clemson alums, to hunt the surrounding acres of forests, streams and lakes in and around his peach orchards during deer hunting season.

A hunt had been happening for years, the older Carr, Hap, says. But it was Kevin’s idea to connect that hunt with veterans. “He picked up on that and ran with it,” Hap recalls. “He worked it out with Chalmers and his staff, and here we are.”

Time away, time together

The next step after the two families forged their partnership of place and purpose, was to seek out participants. Rhodes contacted the South Carolina National Guard, who put him in touch with five veterans who love to hunt, and he knew could use some time away from the military grind.

The Carrs offered their land for hunting as well as on-site lodging — in a 19th-century manor the younger Carr and his wife had refurbished on the property. The Rhodes father-son team provided meals.

Veterans drove in from multiple Lowland counties to meet at the stately house on a clear winter morning. Holding widely different ranks and backgrounds, they gathered around a large firepit between the main house and tool shed and, despite having just met, fell into easy conversation.

To kick off day one of the two-day hunt, Kevin and a small team from Titan Farms gathered the group at the farm’s private shooting range, helping them zero their rifles before escorting each of them to one of the many deer stands scattered around the vast property. It was unusually cold for South Carolina — see-your-breath cold — but spirits were high.

Lieutenant Colonel Jay Sirmon, left, zeroes his rifle on the Titan Farms shooting range with the help of Kevin Rhodes.

Lieutenant Colonel Jay Sirmon of the South Carolina National Guard’s 122nd Engineer Battalion, an experienced outdoorsman,leapt at the chance to hunt the fabled lands of Titan Farms. He says it takes about half an hour for the noise of everyday life to recede once he settles into a hunt day. But then nature takes over.

“You get out into the woods, and all the commotion from your day-to-day world tries to follow you there,” Sirmon explains. “But after about 30 minutes of being still and quiet, you just kind of achieve equilibrium with your surroundings.

“You start hearing that squirrel 50 yards behind you that you didn’t hear when you first got in the stand. You can hear the stick break in front of you, quail coming up behind you,” Sirmon says.  “As cliché as it sounds, you do get in tune with nature. When I come out of the stand, nine times out of ten, whether I’ve seen a deer or not, I feel a reset of my mind and body.”

Lieutenant Colonel Jay Sirmon checks his rifle and then climbs into a deer stand for the first hunt.

Sirmon says finding that peaceful, quiet place is particularly valuable for veterans.

“I think as veterans, a lot of times we have a hard time being still,” Sirmon explains. “We’re so used to making the most of our time, and everything in the military is managed to the nth degree, and a lot of times that bleeds over into our personal lives when it doesn’t need to. When you’re hunting, you have to be still, and it’s just kind of a reset for your mind and body.”

Committed to service

Rhodes started his B4 Outdoors nonprofit in 2018 after working as a sports manager in college athletics for seven years. He wanted to do something with his life that would honor his father’s 26 years of service in the army, while also using his considerable experience and love for the wild places of the world. The idea was sparked after he began volunteering with a youth program through the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources in 2012.

“I could see the impact it had to take others hunting, and that lit a fire under me,” he says, noting that the values instilled in him at Clemson have played a big part in his life choices.

“In Memorial Park, next to the Scroll of Honor, there is a walkway with words carved into it: What will you commit to? Who will you respect? How will you serve? It’s great to have a good career and make a lot of money, but if you’re doing it and keeping it to yourself, who are you serving?”

U.S. Army specialist Jacob Maggart (left) gets a fist bump from Adam Mattson, Titan Farms construction and equipment manager, after felling a doe on the second day of the hunt.

In 2024, B4 Outdoors took 50 veterans on hunts around the Southeast, and Rhodes expects that number to grow in 2025. The December veterans hunt was the second he’s done at Titan Farms, with more to come.

“We hear so much about all the issues guys come back from combat with,” says Rhodes. “With the war on terror, there are a lot more veterans out there that are looking for these types of events and need the time in the woods. When they come on a hunt, it’s just a way to relax. We’ve had so many guys tell us that the stress lifts off their shoulders when they come on a hunt. It’s stress relief, and there’s a camaraderie factor as well.”

Rhodes says he’s witnessed the immediate bond that happens when a group of veterans who have never met before spend a few days together.

“We have active text message groups from hunts that were four, five years ago,” he says. “We don’t have psychiatrists, counselors, pastors or anything like that — we just offer the opportunity to get away and relieve some stress. A lot of guys use the term ‘reset.’”

Kevin Rhodes (second from left), veteran hunters, and Titan Farms staff swap stories around a fire in the backyard of the manor after the first hunt.

Rhodes, who earned his Clemson degree in Parks and Recreation Management, didn’t set out to dedicate his life to helping veterans and first responders, but his father says his son has landed right where he’s meant to be.

“I can get emotional if I think very long about it because, having served in the army for 26 years, I made sacrifices. Not as great as some others, but nevertheless, it meant my family also made sacrifices,” says Col. Rhodes, 78.

“Kevin has a calling to give those who have made those sacrifices an opportunity to rehabilitate through the outdoors,” the senior Rhodes says. “I’ve seen some come into camp just as tight as a clam shell, and by the time the hunt is over, they’ve opened up. It’s amazing how they transform, and it’s just wonderful to see that happen.”

Chalmers Carr (left, standing), Hap Carr and Danny Rhodes (sitting, front) and Kevin Rhodes (center, blue sweatshirt) share dinner with the five veteran hunters and members of Titan Farms staff in the dining room of the manor after the first hunt.

The five vets were treated to a first-class experience hunting on the genuinely remarkable landscapes of the farm. In all, they bagged nine deer over the two-day experience, which were processed at a local company, Jackson’s Custom Processing, and each hunter was sent home with enough venison to feed their families for weeks. But, by design, it was the late-night chats around the fire and early-morning discussions over coffee that were the most nourishing.

“I would say the conversation and camaraderie was even better than the hunt, and that’s a win,” says Sirmon. “I think Titan Farms and B4 Outdoors have much to be proud of. It was a great event, and we appreciate everyone who contributed. I cannot thank them enough.”

The hunting experience was just the latest in a long list of outreach that the Rhodes and Carrs have done independently for veterans for years.

Col. Danny Rhodes (third from left) leads a prayer before breakfast on the second day of the hunt.

“For the Carrs to give access to this farm, I mean, how special is that?” says Col. Rhodes. “I have never met such a gracious family in all my life. From General Hap Carr to his son and daughter-in-law, through all the workers here — the whole family. And when I say family, I include the workers because Chalmers does a great job taking care of them, and it is truly a family.”

“We are very blessed, and growing up in a general officer’s house, I was raised to understand that every blessing is thanks to those who serve,” says Chalmers. “It’s very important to me that we support those who go through so much for us and who I think most of the world takes for granted.”

At the end of the weekend, the two father-son pairs of Clemson alumni regrouped in the airy foyer of the historic house to shake hands and congratulate each other before hitting the road back to their respective homes. The consensus was that the hunt achieved just what they hoped it would.

“First of all, I hope they feel our appreciation for what they’ve done and the sacrifices they’ve made,” says Chalmers. “Second, I hope they leave here having had the ultimate experience and thinking, ‘That was worth my time, and I’m glad I went.’”

Kevin Rhodes (back row, right) and his father, Col. Danny Rhodes (front row, right), and two managers for Titan Farms (front row) pose with the five veterans they hosted (back row).