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Hurlburt youth plays Tee Ball for the President

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Kelly Ogden
  • 1st SOW Public Affairs
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. --  The son of a Hurlburt Field Airman was able to do something most Americans can't even fathom...he met the President of the United States while playing a Tee Ball game on the South Lawn of the White House. 

Eric Anderson, the 7-year-old son of Lt. Col. Leighton and Kristi Anderson, 1st Special Operations Support Squadron, was selected to take part in this momentous occasion as part of a Little League initiative created by President Bush. 

However, this game was special. It was the first Tee Ball game on the South Lawn to include children from each branch of the Armed Services.

Little League announced a game to take place on the White House lawn specifically intended for children of active duty service members. Eric's aunt, Kerry Bishop, heard about the Tee Ball game and thought it was the perfect opportunity for him to do something amazing.

The selection process included an application, a letter of recommendation from the child's coach and information about the parent's military service. One of the stipulations to participate was that each child had to have a parent serving on active-duty in the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Navy or Marines.

Eric was one of the 26 children selected to play. 

The game followed typical Tee Ball on the South Lawn game rules - no score was kept, the players were divided into two teams that each played in a one-inning game and every player on the two teams played on defense and was up to bat once.
 
Eric's defensive skills caught the President's eye.

"Eric made the only catch of the game and the President commented, 'Nice job, you caught the only pop fly' while presenting him his baseball after the game," said Colonel Anderson.

The game was especially touching for Eric's father, who had just returned from a deployment and was able to make the trip with his family. 

"I thought the whole experience was magical and will definitely remember it forever," said Colonel Anderson.

However, the Tee Ball game wasn't the only highlight of the event. Eric and his family also had a picnic on the South Lawn while listening to a special acoustic concert by the country band Rascal Flatts.

"Eric had fun getting autographs from the band and Former New York Yankees centerfielder Bernie Williams, who served as the first base coach for the game, as well as General Peter Pace, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff/Little League Hall of Fame member, who also served as the third base coach," said Colonel Anderson .

Colonel Anderson hopes his son will remember the experience for the rest of his life.

"At  seven years old, it's difficult to grasp really how big an opportunity this was," he said. "I hope he'll be able to look back on this later when he's older and fully appreciate the experience."