For the first time, Penn State Joint Service ROTC collaborated with Penn State baseball to host Honor Our Heroes Day on April 23.
The ROTC staff, cadets and midshipmen helped to coordinate the Touch-A-Truck event, free for kids 12 and under, held in the Medlar Field parking lot prior to the game. Midshipman Francis Alvaré said, “The Touch-A-Truck event was a huge hit. Kids thoroughly enjoyed climbing around the National Guard Stryker and Humvee, parked on the concourse.” This event gave fans the chance to get a close look at vehicles such as the National Guard Stryker and Humvee, the Alpha firetruck, the Centre Region Bomb Squad vehicle, a Pennsylvania State Police cruiser, and a Penn State ambulance, among others. In addition to Touch-A-Truck, the Navy ROTC Exhibition Drill Team performed before the first pitch.
For the National Anthem, cadets and midshipmen stood side by side with veterans, community first responders, and seniors from both the Penn State baseball team as well as the visiting team, Northwestern, to hold the American flag. Staff Sergeant Hepburn from Army ROTC and the Pennsylvania National Guard had the honor of throwing out the first pitch while the Wild Blue Yonders, an Air Force ROTC cadet choir initiated in 1987, performed "America the Beautiful" during the seventh-inning stretch.
After the game, cadets, midshipmen and military personnel took to the field for photos with seniors from the Penn State baseball team as the players thanked them for their service. Thanks to the collaboration of those who came together to make the event possible, Honor Our Heroes Day was a success.