CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – As part of its coast-to-coast #ThanksToVeterans RV Tour, the Veterans United Home Loans Tour visited Bowen Combative Arts Academy this week to help a fellow Army veteran make improvements to his place of business.

Fifteen staff members from Veterans United, the nation’s No. 1 VA home purchase lender, pitched in for about four hours of handiwork and renovations to help Donnie Bowen and his wife, Michelle, at their dojo on Progress Drive, as a way to say thank you to Bowen for his service.

Veterans United with the #ThanksToVeterans RV Tour, help with handy work and renovations at Bowen Combative Arts Academy in Clarksville on, Oct. 24, 2022. (Lee Erwin).
Veterans United with the #ThanksToVeterans RV Tour, help with handy work and renovations at Bowen Combative Arts Academy in Clarksville on, Oct. 24, 2022. (Lee Erwin).
Veterans United with the #ThanksToVeterans RV Tour, help with handy work and renovations at Bowen Combative Arts Academy in Clarksville on, Oct. 24, 2022. (Lee Erwin).
Veterans United with the #ThanksToVeterans RV Tour, help with handy work and renovations at Bowen Combative Arts Academy in Clarksville on, Oct. 24, 2022. (Lee Erwin).
Veterans United with the #ThanksToVeterans RV Tour, help with handy work and renovations at Bowen Combative Arts Academy in Clarksville on, Oct. 24, 2022. (Lee Erwin).
Veterans United with the #ThanksToVeterans RV Tour, help with handy work and renovations at Bowen Combative Arts Academy in Clarksville on, Oct. 24, 2022. (Lee Erwin).
Veterans United with the #ThanksToVeterans RV Tour, help with handy work and renovations at Bowen Combative Arts Academy in Clarksville on, Oct. 24, 2022. (Lee Erwin).
Veterans United with the #ThanksToVeterans RV Tour, help with handy work and renovations at Bowen Combative Arts Academy in Clarksville on, Oct. 24, 2022. (Lee Erwin).
Veterans United with the #ThanksToVeterans RV Tour, help with handy work and renovations at Bowen Combative Arts Academy in Clarksville on, Oct. 24, 2022. (Lee Erwin).
Veterans United with the #ThanksToVeterans RV Tour, help with handy work and renovations at Bowen Combative Arts Academy in Clarksville on, Oct. 24, 2022. (Lee Erwin).
Michelle and Donnie Bowen at Bowen Combative Arts Academy were joined by members of Veterans United with the #ThanksToVeterans RV Tour, to help with handy work and renovations at Bowen Combative Arts Academy in Clarksville on, Oct. 24, 2022. (Lee Erwin).
Veterans United with the #ThanksToVeterans RV Tour, help with handy work and renovations at Bowen Combative Arts Academy in Clarksville on, Oct. 24, 2022. (Lee Erwin).
Veterans United with the #ThanksToVeterans RV Tour, help with handy work and renovations at Bowen Combative Arts Academy in Clarksville on, Oct. 24, 2022. (Lee Erwin).
Veterans United with the #ThanksToVeterans RV Tour, help with handy work and renovations at Bowen Combative Arts Academy in Clarksville on, Oct. 24, 2022. (Lee Erwin).
The #ThanksToVeterans RV Tour bus at Bowen Combative Arts Academy in Clarksville. Veterans United members provided handy work and renovations to the facility on, Oct. 24, 2022. (Lee Erwin).

Bowen is a retired 5th Special Forces Group soldier, and his academy provides self-defense classes to spouses when their service member is deployed so that the families can defend themselves when they are alone.

“We are blessed to have our friends from Veterans United share the day with us, and I can’t thank them enough for all the work they did to make our place better. They made some really big improvement that we just hadn’t had a chance to get to yet,” Bowen said.

Bowen added that the work that was done was invaluable to their operations, and they were very grateful.

Ken Preston, 13th Sergeant Major of the Army, and one of the Veteran’s United volunteers, said they were thrilled to visit the Bowens and spend a little time giving back to them. “They have sacrificed a great deal for this country, and they continue to give back to the Clarksville community every day,” Preston said.

The academy also offers a trauma reboot program, a “champ camp” for the children to invest in all ages, and mentor groups for veterans and active-duty service members.

For more information visit the Bowen Combative Arts Academy website or go to #ThanksToVeterans.