NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



Dayton Dragons

Hometown Heroes Celebration Night Tomorrow at Fifth Third Field

May 20, 2011 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


DAYTON, OH- The Dayton Dragons, in conjunction with the Dayton Development Coalition, will host the first of two "Hometown Heroes Celebration Nights" at Fifth Third Field on Saturday, May 21, as part of the 7:00 p.m. game against the Lake County Captains.

As part of the season-long celebration of the Hometown Heroes program, the DDC will take time to pay tribute to all service men and women associated with Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the Springfield Air National Guard Base.

Festivities for the Celebration Night will begin with military displays on the Fifth Third Field plaza at 6:00 p.m. Pre-game ceremonies include displaying a giant American flag by children of local Airmen, releasing of white doves, the Wright-Patterson Honor Guard presenting the colors, and the singing of the National Anthem by Senior Airman Kelly Perry from the Air Force Band of Flight.

During the game, Major General Walter Givhan, Commander of the Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, will address the fans, swear-in a group of local Air Force recruits, and welcome home a group of recently returned Airmen from deployment.

General Givhan served as the U.S. Air Liaison Officer to the commanding general, French ground forces, for operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He led the effort to rebuild the Afghan Air Force as commanding general of the Combined Air Power Transition Force. He has commanded a combat training squadron, an operations group, an air base wing and an air expeditionary wing.

Other planned activities for the evening include a video greeting card from an Airman to his family back home, the singing of God Bless America, and special recognition of retired Major General Edward J. Mechenbier, whose plane was shot down in June 1967 on his 80th combat mission over North Vietnam. He was a Prisoner of War (P.O.W) for nearly six years in the same compound as Senator John McCain.

The second Hometown Heroes Celebration Night is planned for Saturday, August 27.

Check out the Dayton Dragons Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Midwest League message board...

Midwest League Stories from May 20, 2011


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central