national s invitation to throw out the ceremonial first pitch on opening day. he cited scheduling conflicts. a surprising decision from the new commander in chief who discovered america s pass time long before he discovered the board room. did you always knew you were going to go? no, i wanted to be a baseball player. that was no childhood fantasy, trump was a star player at the new york military academy. his coach told rolling stone he was once even scouted by the phillies. i was captain of the baseball team. i was supposed to be a professional baseball player, fortunately i decided to go into real estate instead. he s already stepped up to the mound for the cubs, the red sox, and his beloved yankees, but even the leaders of the free world apparently gets nervous when he goes into his wind-up. george h.w. bush, college baseball star at yale was visibly upset after a wide pitch at orioles opening day in 1992. bill clinton took note and tried to avoid the same fate in 1996.
backyard sitting in his chair listening to his beloved yankees play on the radio. and that s where this story might have ended, but mitchell, a friend of one of these soldiers and an army vet, himself, set out on a mission. he and his wife, marilyn, spent years writing letters and working with congress and our military to get this done. so we thank all those who worked so hard for so long to bring us to this moment, especially marilyn and mitchell, now 83 years old, who i d ask to stand so that we can all say thank you. [ applause ]
sitting in his chair listening to his beloved yankees play out on the radio. and that s where the story might have ended. but mitchell woodman, a friend of one of these soldiers and an army vet himself, set out on a mission. he and his wife marilyn spent years writing letters and working with congress and our military to get this done. and so we thank all those who worked so hard for so long to bring us to this moment, especially marilyn and mitchell, now 83 years old, who i d ask to stand so that we can all say thank you. [ applause ] finally, of these 24 soldiers,
who at age 71 passed away in his backyard, sitting in his chair listening to his beloved yankees play on the radio. and that s where the story might have ended. but mitchell lidman, a friend of one of these soldiers and an army vet himself set out on a mission. he and his wife marilyn spent years writing letters and working with congress and our military to get this done. and so we thank all those who worked so hard for so long to bring us to this moment. especially marilyn and mitchell, now 83 years old, who i d ask to stand so that we can all say thank you. [ applause ]