Today’s Article: Bombers honor fallen soldiers

Ranking: #1

First Published: May 26, 2014

What It’s About: The “Fallen Soldiers” story that ran last spring wasn’t the biggest or most complete story I ran in 2014—honestly, looking back on it, it wasn’t nearly as in-depth as it should have been—but it’s the one that has stuck with me the most. Why? Because it has so many positives in the life it touches, taking life lessons off the softball field and connecting young athletes to those who are grieving to add some happiness to their lives. Simply, the “4 the Fallen” program is this: softball players find those in the military who have died in combat and honor them by wearing the soldiers’ names on their jerseys. At the end of the year, the players present the cleaned and framed jerseys to the families of those who lost a loved one. But it’s not just finding a name and slapping it on the jersey—the softball player researches the deceased and gets to know about him or her in a personal way. Usually, there is a connection between athlete and soldier in that the come from the same area, sometimes from the same city or even high school. It makes it an intimate connection and educates the athlete on life and world issues. And, most importantly, it helps the grieving military families know that their son or daughter is not forgotten, but appreciated and honored for their ultimate sacrifice. And this isn’t a limited exercise, either; Texas Bombers Program Director Scott Smith has the bulk of his 34 team, 450-player organization involved in this and hopes to take it nationwide with many other teams and players honoring the fallen in their areas. It’s truly a cause of significance and relevance, adding impact to young athletes way beyond the softball field.

Update: On January 3 (last Saturday), I was privileged to see this program in action and witness how impactful and emotional the process can be—you can read the story here—as Smith and the Bombers presented John and Jean Spitzer with a game-worn jersey honoring their son Thomas who was killed in action last June. The “4 the Fallen” program is growing and athletes in other states, including New Mexico and Louisiana, are now participating. Players are responsible for presenting the jerseys to the families and how it is done varies; it is often done on the field at games. Last summer, one family was presented a Bomber jersey on TV during the broadcast of one of the Triple Crown Sports Colorado Fireworks games. Here’s to hoping that, simultaneously, the program grows to honor those who die in serving their country, but also the need to do this decreases as fewer and fewer young soldiers are taken too soon.

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ORIGINAL STORY:

Texas Bombers honor fallen soldiers

In honor of Memorial day and to pay tribute to the men and women who serve our country, we head to the Lone Star State to spotlight the Texas Bombers organization which does something fantastic to honor those in the military who have fallen in the line of duty.

Last fall, we did a spotlight on the Bombers’ organization and I was impressed then with Scott Smith, the head of the program and the Gold team coach, whose “day job”  has been serving in the army for over 20 years.

Smith came up the idea of putting the names of those fallen in battle on the Bomber jerseys and, taking it a step further, assigned each player the responsibility of researching the background and life of the soldier.

“The players had their eyes opened and it made this seem so much more real learning who the person was, if he or she was married and details about their past,” the coach explains.

“They would come up to me and say, ‘He was a college football player’ or ‘she was married with two kids.’ It was a real growing experience for them.”

As the 23-team Bomber organization stretches out over Texas and parts of Louisiana, the idea is to match a player with a fallen soldier from her area.  A military database is used to locate names and in some cases Bomber players have found soldiers with some type of connection.

Some, for example, may have attended the current player’s high school.  In one case, a Bomber player came to wear the name of a cousin lost in battle.

The Bomber players wear their jersey all year and at the end of the season donate it to the family of the fallen soldier at a 900-person banquet.

Certainly, the program has touched the hearts of many.

Smith first outfitted his team with the symbolic jersey at last fall’s Ronald McDonald tournament in Texas and it had a strong impact from the first moment the players walked onto the field.

“Mother’s came up to us crying and asking if we had certain soldiers on our jerseys,” he remembers.  “We were very touched.”

Smith thought a good name for the jersey initiative would be “For the Fallen,” but found out the name was already in use.

He decided to call the group and to his surprise found out that “4 The Fallen” already had softball ties, although it was in slowpitch.

The Bomber’s leader asked if his program could join and today is the fastpitch arm of the organization whose stated mission is “Empowering families of the fallen and wounded service members and police officers, while shining a promotional light for all Americans awareness of these member’s sacrifices.”

The Bombers have their other jerseys still but Smith says teams are increasing choosing to go with the military ones.

“We have coaches and players who’ll play all day and then go home and wash the jersey so they can wear it the next day,” he laughs.

Look for the program to get bigger and, hopefully, draw more attention to 4-TheFallen.org and the opportunities to help the families of those who’ve lost loved ones in combat.

Eventually, though, Smith would like to see the concept end.

“We appreciate the opportunity to honor those soldiers who are gone,” he concludes, “but hope one day we run out of names to put on the jerseys.”