The Braves Make Warrior Wishes Come True!
Thanks to my dad’s awesome “travel coordinator” my dad was able to make Warrior Wishes come true at 2 Braves games on this leg of our Battefields to Ballfields mission. one on the way to Miami and Tampa, and one on the way back. So after making Warrior Wishes come true in Tampa, thanks to the Rays, my dad was on an overnight bus to Atlanta to host heroes at the Braves game.
Thanks to the Braves we were able to host and honor 8 more veterans and Gold Star families tonight at Turner Field.
My dad got into town around 9am and had some time to grab a quick bite to eat & catch up on some work at his “office” in the Westin Peachtree Hotel. After breakfast, and a couple hours on the phone, my dad made his way to Jimmy Johns in Atlanta to meet the Warriors for dinner before heading over to the stadium to take the field for BP.
Tonight my dad hosted a great combination of warriors and Gold Star families, nominated by some great organizations. Team Red White and Blue, and IAVA (Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America) nominated our warriors – Army Veterans Phil Hudson,Nate Smith and Tim Thon , along with active duty Eric Sapp .
And of course our partner for past couple years, SOS ( Survivor Outreach Service) – nominated our Gold Star families of Army PV2 Torre Grady, A1C Michael James Hill & Air Force Sr Airman Kacey Ruiz.
The group started out on the field at batting practice, thanks to the Atlanta Braves, and had the opportunity to meet some of the players and get some great photos. Phil even did an interview on the field, as he works for the Atlanta Business Journal.
After an hour and a half or so on the field in the hot sun, they were happy to see that their seats were actually in a nice shaded area of the stadium.
And my dad had another little surprise for them – Ron Rodriguez was one of our guests at the Miami Marlins game last year – one of his dreams was to work for a Major League Baseball team . Well he is now doing that, in the Promotions Dept for the Atlanta Braves. Thanks to him and the Braves, he brought Gift Bags with T-Shirts, hats, tomahawks and much more, to the seats for everyone.
It was a memorable night for the Warriors and their families thanks to Jimmy Johns for providing pregame subs, New Era for providing Braves caps, & Jarrod, Ron and the entire Atlanta Braves Organization for their incredible hospitality – not just tonight – but for all of our Braves games during this year’s 2016 Battlefields to Ballfields Tour.
TOGETHER WE MAKE WARRIOR WISHES COME TRUE!
After the game, my dad spent all night hanging out all night at the 24 hour Metro Diner (watching Karaoke). He thankfully stayed awake long enough to catch his 6am $1 Megabus back to Chicago.
Although he is heading home , this leg of the 2016 Battlefields to Ballfields Tour is not over. Operation Warrior Wishes made a Father’s Day wish come true for a warrior in Florida who loves the Tigers & served on 9 Deployments!
To thank him for his service & sacrifices, we provided Army SSG Tim Sanders with Front Row seats in Tampa to watch his tigers take on the Rays! Stay tuned for details!
In total we proudly hosted 24 warriors/families at 8 games in this 4th of 5 legs of 2016 Battlefield to Ballfields Tour. My dad will be back in action on the west coast next week.
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