6/11/2004 - Men's Lacrosse
The Next Generation

At the hub of a downtown renewal in Memphis, Tenn. sits AutoZone Park, home of the baseball Redbirds.?


And on any given spring or summer weekend, this beautiful ballpark situated a few blocks north of Beale Street and just east of the Mississippi River unites young and old alike.?

Without fail, they gather by the thousands.?? Most clad in their Cardinal colors.?


It was no different a few weeks ago, on the final Saturday in May.? And yet, it was altogether different.?

Hours before the scheduled first pitch of a late afternoon game, already a large crowd had settled into the stadium seats, many seeking the shade of a grandstand overhang on a hot, humid day.?

Once more, they came dressed in plenty of red.? But they also wore white and blue.? For the vast majority, age had advanced at least well into the eighties. ?


What brought them here in the midst of Memorial Day weekend had nothing to do with the national pastime.? And yet, it had everything to do with however we pass our time or derive the pleasures we enjoy as a nation.?


On this day, AutoZone Park was an official site for the simulcast of the World War II Memorial dedication ceremonies in our nation's capital.?

Here they sat, to observe and remember.? ?

So too did I, from a press box booth usually reserved to track balls and strikes, hits and runs.?


The images on the large video screen in right field, and the words echoing from the speakers were enough to move one to tears.? Not simply to be seen and heard, they were to be experienced.?

Among the most touching for me was the speech by Tom Brokaw, who spoke of the men and women whom he had simply and perfectly described as the Greatest Generation.? Listening to each word, I could swear he was talking about my own late father, a Tech Sergeant in the Army Air Corps.?

Later, when I shared such sentiment with a stadium employee, he relayed his own emotional reaction to something he had witnessed during the National Anthem.? It was that of a Veteran confined to a wheelchair, yet struggling to stand at attention.?

Patriotism, I thought, pure and simple.?

The creases that marked the complexion of that elderly crowd were created not by age itself, but by the hardship endured during the Great Depression and losses withstood to keep the world free of Fascism.? ?

Forty-eight hours later, from that very same seat high above a ball field, I saw a mostly younger, more vibrant crowd while watching television scenes from another stadium far away to the East.?

They happened to be in Baltimore and their purpose was celebration rather than solemn remembrance.? ?


Still, there too stirred an immense pride inspired by a group of Patriots.?


Of course, on this particular Memorial Day, the young men dressed in blue and gold, their faces concealed by the helmets and masks they wore, weren't combating forces of evil or tyranny.? ?

As members of the Navy lacrosse team, they were simply playing the final game of the spring, trying to be crowned champions of their sport.? Their opponent was Syracuse, by no means an enemy.? ?

But in watching them compete, I, perhaps like you, couldn't escape the reality that these Midshipmen and their classmates were in many ways very much like their predecessors of sixty years ago.?

As in Memphis, they had stood at attention inside a stadium, fully aware that the Star Spangled Banner isn't merely a patch on a uniform sleeve or a means of telling whether the wind is blowing in or out.?

It's the DNA of an American ideal that isn't always realized, but is always worth pursuing.? And it's a big, bold and beautiful reminder of what we ask of the men and women sworn to preserve such an ideal.?

Like those World War II veterans hundreds of miles away, the Mids on the field and in the stands, and many of the more than 40,000 cheering them on, had committed to ensuring that The Stars and Stripes flies forever over a free nation.?


Obviously, this they would not do with lacrosse sticks.?

But by reaching the national championship, which seemed so improbable back in March, these Midshipmen gave us a glimpse into the soul of a service academy.?


Just like every other success story in a year marked by athletic achievement, starting last summer with the accomplishments of golfer Billy Hurley.? And continuing through the fall in football and women's soccer and into the spring, when a once-regional game served as a national showcase.?


Through the lens of television cameras, we saw the flag overlooking the Navy sideline.? A flag once unfurled over Afghan soil, delivered to the Mids by one of their own.?

We heard from former players.? And could not from others, their identities protected as members of U.S. Special Forces.?

We were told examples of Navy's resolve.? Like the one about the Mid who last fall stepped in as a last-minute sub and, without training, ran the Marine Corps Marathon.?

And we were reminded, most importantly, that these athletes of today are officers of tomorrow.? Bound to join brave counterparts, enlisted and commissioned, in a dangerous and uncertain world.?

By the end of the weekend, after seeing the Mids fall a single goal shy of a title, I was disappointed.?


But much more so, I was thankful.?


More than a half century ago, God blessed America with our Greatest Generation.?


And so He does to this day, with those who dare to follow.?

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