First Pitch to Heroes Banquet

Last weekend, I was lucky enough to attend a wonderful banquet that not only opened my eyes on veterans and everything they have gone through, but it also impacted me a lot more than I ever imagined. 

The banquet was the First Annual “First Pitch to Heroes” put on by my local colleges, Dakota State University, baseball team. It was a fundraiser for the Big Paws Canine Academy and Foundation, Inc. It’s a foundation that trains dogs to be companions for veterans who are dealing with disabilities or PTSD.  

 Please, take a second and check out their Facebook page or website.

We were fortunate enough to listen to three wonderful speakers, two spoke about their time overseas, what it felt like to come home and not know where you fit in anymore, what they dealt with on a daily bases while serving our country. 

The last speaker was Jerry Schemmel, voice of the Colorado Rockies, and originally from Madison, SD. He spoke about the plane crash he survived in 1989 and saved an 11 month old baby girl from the wreckage. ESPN did a feature on him, I encourage you to take 6 minutes and watch this “Humble Hero" 

My brother is currently serving in the National Guard 211^th Engineers Sapper unit out of Madison, SD and has been since 2005. He’s gone overseas once, it was hard to see him leave, but he’s become such a wonderful person and I’m extremely proud of him and all the other men in the 211^th .

Please, take a second to check out the video of Jerry Schemmel, and the website for Big Paws.