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Each generation was aware of the ultimate sacrifice.
On Tribute to the Armed Services Night, Army Pfc. Chris Martin threw out the first pitch.
A friend of York County's Zachary Clouser, Martin escorted Clouser's body home after the 2005 Dover Area High School graduate was killed while deployed in Adhamiyah, Iraq, on July 18.
Clouser's mother, Deb Etheridge, works for the York Revolution.
“It definitely personalizes the night,” York Revolution general manager Matt O'Brien said.
During the seventh-inning stretch the team displayed the names of all the Pennsylvania soldiers killed during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on the right-field video screen.
The game was sponsored by BAE Systems. The West Manchester Township company builds defense vehicles and purchased 1,000 tickets for the game, providing the tickets to veterans through local American Legions and VFWs.
BAE also sponsors the Revolution's home run cannon, and donates $50 to the USO for every home run the Revs hit in York. Before Thursday's game, BAE had donated $1,600 for the USO.
“This night was about realizing that men and women in the armed forces are working overseas to protect the freedoms we have and allow us an opportunity like this - to enjoy a ballgame
The team handed out miniature flags to about the first 1,500 fans at the game.
“It was really neat to see the enthusiasm BAE put into the event,” O'Brien said. “We had folks at the ballpark tonight that had never been here before, and it was rewarding to see their faces light up when they got a flag. Every day should be their day, but we tried to make tonight special.”
Vietnam War veterans Anthony Stabile and Rickey Cox set up a table behind the turnstiles to collect money for the Vietnam War Memorial of York County.
The men organized about 10 months ago and hope to collect between $250,000 and $300,000 to fund a 16-foot tall Vietnam War memorial at the York Expo Center. The bronze and granite memorial will feature the names of the York County veterans killed during the Vietnam War.
“All schools have difficulty with the history of Vietnam,” Stabile said. “And because York County had so many soldiers killed in action over there, we decided this is a way we could inform.”
The group has collected almost $50,000 and commissioned Dallastown artist Lorann Jacobs to sculpt the memorial.
“Students in school may know the word Vietnam, but they can't fathom what it was all about,” said Cox, who is chairman of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. “It was the most traumatic time of my life.”
Cox, a York County native, was “good friends” with three of the men who will one day have their names etched on the memorial.
Army Staff Sgt. Matt Wood of Laconia, N.H., watched the game from Section 9 with a number of active military members.
Stationed in Fort Lewis, Wash., Wood is on temporary assignment at the York recruiting office. Wood is responsible for the training, morale and welfare of 33 other infantry soldiers at Fort Lewis.
“A night like tonight is important,” Wood said, “because people get to see members of the armed forces are more than just a picture on TV.”
Reach Jim Seip at 771-2025 or jseip@ydr.com.
