Happy Memorial Day

Yesterday, my Mother experienced a first - she attended her first Bats baseball game.  A co-worker had the company tickets for yesterday's game and couldn't attend so she gave them to me, and since Mom had never attended a Bats game, I surprised her and took her down to Slugger Field.  We got there just as they'd opened the gates so we would get one of the cool camo Bats baseball caps they were giving to the first 2,500 people.  Then we walked around the stadium so she could grasp the whole ballpark experience. While walking, we saw some VFW friends.  The VFW state color guard was there to present the flags at the opening ceremony of the game, and we chatted for a few moments with them before going to our seats. While we all were talking, we saw a hundreds of soldiers in their [hot] long-sleeve camo fatigues come marching in.  In keeping with tradition, Slugger Field honors the troops on Memorial Day, and all military personnel get in free.  So every Memorial Day, they have dozens of buses full of the boot camp soldiers come here from Ft. Knox to enjoy the game. 

Slugger Field also kept on with another Memorial Day tradition - they honored Robley Rex, Kentucky's only living WWI veteran.  Mr. Rex is a spry 106 years old, and still volunteers every week day at the VA hospital here in Louisville.  I had the priviledge of meeting Mr. Rex last summer when I attended the state VFW convention, and it was truly a honor.  Mr. Rex had been at the Memorial Bats games ever since I can remember, and this year he was there in style.  They rode him around the perimeter of the field in a cart similar to the Pope-mobile.  He also got a standing ovation from the entire stadium.  When the cart reached the part of the stadium where the hundreds of soldiers were, the driver stopped the cart and all of the solders stood at attention and saluted him.  It took a minute or so, but Mr. Rex got out of the cart and stood before all of those soldiers and saluted back.  From our vantage point, there weren't too many dry eyes in the stadium when that happened; I'm first to admit my Oakly sunglasses were fogging up. 

Unfortunately, the Bats lost the game (they got pounded into the ground and lost 9-2) but Mom and I had a great mother-daughter outing.  And the highlight of the game was seeing the soldiers salute Mr. Rex.  That's what Memorial Day is about.