RENO, NEVADA (Aug. 28, 2007) - Former major league baseball player Rick Monday, a member of the Board of the Citizens Flag Alliance, said he was grateful that President Bush voiced his support for a constitutional amendment to protect Old Glory during a speech before The American Legion today.
Monday, a broadcaster for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and his wife, Barbaralee, sat just a few feet from the president, as he addressed the approximately 6,000 in attendance at The American Legion’s 89th National Convention. Monday had a highly successful major league career but he will be forever linked with to an incident that occurred on April 25, 1976, while he was playing for the Chicago Cubs. When two protestors attempted to burn the U.S. flag on the field at Dodger Stadium in the middle of a game, Monday swiped the flag before they were successful - an act that motivated the crowd of more than 30,000 to break into a spontaneous rendition of “God Bless America.” The scoreboard lit up with the message, “Rick Monday, you made a great play,” for the visiting player and future Dodger. It was ranked as one of the 100 greatest moments in baseball history by Baseball Hall of Fame voters.“The American flag means so much to our country, especially our veterans,” Monday said. “In my mind, what the protestors were trying to do was wrong. It was wrong 31 years ago and it is still wrong today. There is no place for it.”On this point, Monday has a strong ally in the Oval Office. “ I appreciate your efforts to honor the American flag,” Bush told The American Legion. “There are those who say the flag is just a piece of cloth. That's not the view of those who bled for it and saw it drape the caskets of some of our finest men and women. It was the American flag that we planted proudly on Iwo Jima, that first graced the silver surface of the moon. The country is careful to protect many things because of what they symbolize. Surely we can find a way to show equal respect for the symbol that our soldiers and sailors and airmen and Marines and Coast Guard's men and women have risked their lives for -- the flag of our nation. So today I join the Legion in calling on the United States Congress to make protection of the flag the law of our land.”Monday, a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves, and Barbaralee, a member of the American Legion's Women's Auxiliary, have spent hundreds of hours visiting wounded veterans recovering at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, and many others around the country. “We are both committed to honoring this symbol of our freedoms, and will continue to champion the efforts to protect it. Our nation's flag," continued Monday, "represents all the rights and freedoms protected by the sacrifices of our heroes. It’s gratifying to know that the president is also committed to this righteous cause.”Monday was just recently honored by The American Legion with a James V. Day Good Guy Award, which is named after a World War II veteran and prominent Legionnaire. Monday, a member of Woodward, Iowa American Legion Post 211, sometimes travels with the famous flag that he saved from desecration more than 30 years ago. While holding the flag during a recent visit by the Mondays, a wounded service member started to bleed from an earlier shrapnel injury to his hand. Monday recalled that the soldier started to panic and told Barbaralee to take the flag because he “refused to bleed on it. He was willing to die for it, but he was not willing to bleed on it. He vowed not to desecrate the flag.” During Monday’s Good Guy Award presentation, American Legion National Commander Paul A. Morin said “We're here today to honor an outstanding American. You just need to read Rick Monday’s bio to realize how much he truly represents what The American Legion is all about. You think to that day when he rescued the flag and you realize that he did it because of his upbringing and his belief in the American way of life.”
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Monday, a broadcaster for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and his wife, Barbaralee, sat just a few feet from the president, as he addressed the approximately 6,000 in attendance at The American Legion’s 89th National Convention. Monday had a highly successful major league career but he will be forever linked with to an incident that occurred on April 25, 1976, while he was playing for the Chicago Cubs. When two protestors attempted to burn the U.S. flag on the field at Dodger Stadium in the middle of a game, Monday swiped the flag before they were successful - an act that motivated the crowd of more than 30,000 to break into a spontaneous rendition of “God Bless America.” The scoreboard lit up with the message, “Rick Monday, you made a great play,” for the visiting player and future Dodger. It was ranked as one of the 100 greatest moments in baseball history by Baseball Hall of Fame voters.“The American flag means so much to our country, especially our veterans,” Monday said. “In my mind, what the protestors were trying to do was wrong. It was wrong 31 years ago and it is still wrong today. There is no place for it.”On this point, Monday has a strong ally in the Oval Office. “ I appreciate your efforts to honor the American flag,” Bush told The American Legion. “There are those who say the flag is just a piece of cloth. That's not the view of those who bled for it and saw it drape the caskets of some of our finest men and women. It was the American flag that we planted proudly on Iwo Jima, that first graced the silver surface of the moon. The country is careful to protect many things because of what they symbolize. Surely we can find a way to show equal respect for the symbol that our soldiers and sailors and airmen and Marines and Coast Guard's men and women have risked their lives for -- the flag of our nation. So today I join the Legion in calling on the United States Congress to make protection of the flag the law of our land.”Monday, a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves, and Barbaralee, a member of the American Legion's Women's Auxiliary, have spent hundreds of hours visiting wounded veterans recovering at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, and many others around the country. “We are both committed to honoring this symbol of our freedoms, and will continue to champion the efforts to protect it. Our nation's flag," continued Monday, "represents all the rights and freedoms protected by the sacrifices of our heroes. It’s gratifying to know that the president is also committed to this righteous cause.”Monday was just recently honored by The American Legion with a James V. Day Good Guy Award, which is named after a World War II veteran and prominent Legionnaire. Monday, a member of Woodward, Iowa American Legion Post 211, sometimes travels with the famous flag that he saved from desecration more than 30 years ago. While holding the flag during a recent visit by the Mondays, a wounded service member started to bleed from an earlier shrapnel injury to his hand. Monday recalled that the soldier started to panic and told Barbaralee to take the flag because he “refused to bleed on it. He was willing to die for it, but he was not willing to bleed on it. He vowed not to desecrate the flag.” During Monday’s Good Guy Award presentation, American Legion National Commander Paul A. Morin said “We're here today to honor an outstanding American. You just need to read Rick Monday’s bio to realize how much he truly represents what The American Legion is all about. You think to that day when he rescued the flag and you realize that he did it because of his upbringing and his belief in the American way of life.”
The American Legion, www.legion.org , was founded in 1919 on the four pillars of a strong national security, veterans affairs, Americanism, and patriotic youth programs. The Legion’s 2.7 million wartime veterans work for the betterment of their communities through more than 14,000 posts across the nation.
