kennyfweirich3

Chuck, Good Morning, Thank you for reaching out to me. First it was an honor to meet you during the game on Saturday. I'm a huge fan and have been following you on Twitter. I wanted to give the background of how everything happened and then fell into place. I am a Military Veteran, from 2006-2013 I served in the United States Air Force as a Security Forces Member (Military Police) & I am currently Serving in the South Carolina Army National Guard and have been doing that since 2018. So back in 2019 for Christmas My wife got me tickets to go see the Angels play in Atlanta for the whole series. Unfortunately Covid happened in 2020 and that series was canceled. Before the decision was made to cancel the season, I made the decision that I wanted to have a flag flown for the team. While serving in the Air Force we had the opportunity to have an American Flag flown on our aircrafts in support of either Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom and then present that flag in honor of an individual, an organization, special occasion or an event. In my situation I wanted to have it flown for the team. The reason I did this is because I suffer from PTSD, and the game of baseball & the angels organization has helped me to cope with my severe anxiety and depression. Something about the game of baseball really makes me feel at peace and relaxes me. So I wanted to show my appreciation to the team for helping me what I feel is in a big way. I felt the best way to show this appreciation is by the only way as a military veteran that I know how and that is by having an American Flag flown. So I reached out to a few of my fellow servicemembers to see if they could help me and due to covid picking up the options were extremely limited, so a fellow soldier suggested about having a flag flown over the capitol building in the teams honor. After hearing this suggestion, I then had a flag flown and was going to try and present it to the team during the 2020 season when they were originally scheduled to play in Atlanta. So I held on to the flag and certificate of authenticity because I was going to find a way to present this flag to the team. When the Schedule for the 2022 Season was released and I seen that the Angels were coming to Atlanta, I had one goal on my mind and that was present the American flag to the team. When April got here I reached out to Jeff Fletcher on twitter to see if he knew a point of contact for me, at that point he gave me the information of Angels Director of Communication Adam Chodzko. I emailed Adam explaining to him who I was and what I did, and that all I wanted to do was get an address and I was going to mail the flag in the case with the certificate of authenticity to the team. He emailed me back explaining to me that he would send everything over to Matt Birch who travels with the team and Matt would arrange for me to get the flag to the team in person. Over the last several months I remained in contact with Matt who expressed to me that he wanted to get me and my family batting practice passes at Truist Park so I could present the flag to a member of the team in person. Fast Forward to last week and I received an email from Matt on Thursday evening letting me know that he indeed reserved me 3 passes for batting practice for myself, my wife and my son. He also expressed to me in the email the interest from Bally Sports West to record me presenting the flag to the team and to interview me. I accepted the offer. On Friday, My family and I arrived to Truist Park for the Batting practice experience and I made contact with Matt, who let me know at that moment that I would be presenting the American Flag to Angels Manager Phil Nevins & Angels Star Centerfielder Mike Trout. I walked over to Mike and Phil, and explained to them who I was and that I had the American Flag flown in recognition and appreciation of the Los Angeles Angels. Both Mike and Phil accepted the flag on behalf of the team and asked for several pictures of the three of us together with the flag. Mike & Phil then proceeded to introduce themselves to my wife and my son. Before departing for the dugout Mike Trout signed my jersey, My son's jersey and his hat. Overall it was a great experience and an amazing opportunity to show some appreciation to the Los Angeles Angels for everything they do for the baseball community and military community. Before I left the field I was stopped by Carrlyn Bathe from Bally Sports West who interviewed me & my family on this incredible experience.