30 Years Ago Today — Rick Monday Saves the Flag
Posted By: 'Okie' | 6:23 pm — 4/25/2006 | 
1 Comment See comments below:
At Dodger stadium, April 25th, 1976, Rick Monday grabbed an American flag away from two guys that had run on the field, pulled out a can of lighter fluid and were going to burn the flag in front of thousands of baseball fans. His actions prevented that burning, and the late Los Angeles Herald Examiner photographer James Rourke took the Pulitzer Prize nominated photo that can be seen here. MLB.com remembers:
Monday, who played for the Dodgers from 1977-83 and has been one of the team’s broadcasters since 1993, then recalled the impact the moment had on a country that was wanting so badly to show its patriotism again.
“The letters I’ve received from that day have run the gamut of emotions. They’ve been from children who were not born yet and had only heard about it. They’ve been from Vietnam veterans, including one yesterday. This soldier wrote that there were two things that he had with him in two tours of Vietnam. These two things kept him in check with reality. One was a small picture of his wife. The other was a small American flag that was neatly folded. The picture was folded inside the flag and in the left breast pocket of his uniform.
“He would be in mud for weeks and months at a time. Those two things were what he looked at to connect him with reality, other than his buddies, and some of them were lost in battle. He wrote in the letter, ‘Thanks for protecting what those of us who were in Vietnam held onto dearly.’
My wife remembers — her family were rabid Dodger fans. I wasn’t out here yet and didn’t really watch baseball much so I was unaware of this until today.
Hear Vin Scully make the call during the game, and listen to him describe the crowd’s reaction and standing ovation for Monday. I wonder if that would happen today — sure hope so but I wouldn’t be willing to bet on it . . . (db)
Technorati Tags: Rick Monday, Los Angeles Dodgers, Dodger Stadium, Saving the Flag, Vin Scully
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26 April 2006 | Glenn Speck Said:
April of 1976 was only 7 months after I had hung up my U.S. Army uniform for the last time. I don’t recall this incident, I’m pretty sure I somehow missed it at the time. Still it’s good to hear of it even 30 years later. My feelings for that flag are the same now as back then. Thanks, Rick Monday.