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In reply to the discussion: Do you stand when the National Anthem is played at sporting events? [View all]pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)I don't even know what division our minor league baseball team is in, but they have a stadium and some games have involved a local charity created and run by high school students to assist local disabled veterans. Half the ticket price goes to the charity and it has a pavilion at the game, participates in the ceremonial first pitch, etc.
It's no small thing, as the students' first project raised nearly a half million dollars to build two adjacent homes, one for a severely disabled Iraq War vet and his kids and one for his caregivers.
One game was a Jimmy Buffet event involving both a SoCal parrothead group and our charity, so I donned a Hawaiian shirt and a vet cap and saw a good friend, a former Vet Center PTSD counselor, throw out one of the first pitches on behalf of the charity. We had two large sections in the stands for our charity students and supporters, who include a lot of vets.
We follow protocols for the patriotic displays. A lot of us are vets who still adhere to our oath to uphold the Constitution, and that's what these ceremonial displays mean to us, regardless of how we may individually feel about our country's policies.
In my experience at these events, the only ones not standing are my vet friends who are in wheelchairs. They place hand over heart or salute, as appropriate, unless they can't do that--like my friend that disabled Iraq War vet, in a wheelchair, with one arm, and his other arm's mobility severely limited.
For those who choose not to stand, I respect their feelings and I'm not bothered or offended a whit about it.
We have another parrothead game coming up, again coupled with our students' charity. Time to get my colorful Hawaiian shirt ready.
Love & Peace, Pinboy
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