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The Bronx native, who played for Iona College and served as an officer in the Marine Corps, was at Game 3 at Madison Square Garden on Monday with his daughter as a guest of the organization, which announced him on the jumbotron. “It worked out very nice to have an enjoyable evening. Everything nice, but winning the game,” the six-time NBA All-Star said. “Monday, it just happened that the other team did a little bit better down the stretch and was able to come away with the win, just like the Knicks were in the game in San Antonio … But sports is a funny thing and teams play differently from game to game.”
Towns was also a St. Joseph of Metuchen class president who thought he should be present for a fallen alum, a 25-year-old member of the United States Marine Corps who was among six killed in a helicopter crash while supporting combat operations in Afghanistan. Kevin Reinhard was once a strong 6-foot-4 volleyball player on a powerhouse St. Joe’s team, and Towns was overwhelmed by the outpouring of affection and respect for him. At 16, he was already used to being celebrated in print. “I grew up in an era when newspapers were making you feel like the best,” Towns said. But as the ballplayer watched a community shut down and pack a church to honor a soldier lost in a faraway land, he felt something change inside of him. “For all the accomplishments I had, it meant nothing compared to what this man did,” he said. “It was one of the most humbling things to be a part of.”
Thanks to a generous contribution from Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores, more than 10,000 toys, bicycles and Kindle tablets will be distributed to families in Detroit, Flint, Saginaw, Bay City and surrounding neighborhoods served by Marines and volunteers of the Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program this holiday season.
Meyers Leonard received a surprise on national television late Friday night. During an appearance on TNT’s “Inside the NBA” to discuss what Sept. 11 means to him, the Miami Heat center was caught off guard when his older brother, Bailey, joined the show. Bailey served two tours in Afghanistan with the U.S. Marines.
When Bailey joined the show via video from his home in Illinois, Leonard immediately grew emotional. “Obviously, this day for me is very emotional. It just hits me in a different way,” Leonard said during his appearance on “Inside the NBA.” “Also, it’s a very tragic day in the United States’ history. So many innocent lives were lost. It also took us to war. But like you said and as I mentioned in that tweet, my brother joined the United States Marine Corps because of 9/11. My deep connection to the military because of my brother and for many others who I’m very close with is why this day means so much to me.”
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Chris Haynes: Having known @MeyersLeonard for years, can say he doesn’t have prejudice bone in his body. He agonized, cried at times about not kneeling with teammates. His brother served in Marines, so it was a painful decision. I asked him if he still views kneeling as disrespectful to flag:
Having known @MeyersLeonard for years, can say he doesn’t have prejudice bone in his body. He agonized, cried at times about not kneeling with teammates. His brother served in Marines, so it was a painful decision. I asked him if he still views kneeling as disrespectful to flag: pic.twitter.com/02YzUUtw3R
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) August 2, 2020
Willie Brown, who turns 79 in August, did one tour in Vietnam with the Marines in 1963. Afterward, he worked as a truck driver, but really just used that job as an entryway to his true love: boxing. He dreamed of becoming a professional fighter but worried he could not make it a living. So as he crisscrossed the Midwest and the East Coast driving his truck, he offered his services as a sparring partner wherever he went. Over time, he said, he developed a reputation as a reliable opponent for big boxers training for big fights. He said he sparred against Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, and Sonny Liston, among others.
Rod Beard: Donation by #Pistons governor Tom Gores will provide about 10,000 toys, bicycles and helmets to families in Detroit, Flint, Saginaw, Bay City and surrounding neighborhoods served by Marines and volunteers of the Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program.
Even before the Trail Blazers tipped off the 2018-19 NBA season, a coalition of activists in Portland were beginning to stage protests at the Rose Quarter and have been putting pressure on the organization to cut ties with local company Leupold & Stevens. And as was promised back in August, members of the coalition escalated those actions with a protest staged within the Moda Center during a Trail Blazers game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday. During the Leupold & Stevens-sponsored "Hometown Heroes" presentation at the game, in which the Trail Blazers and Leupold recognize a member of the military for their service, Sergeant Josuee Hernandez of the US Marine Corps was featured on the jumbotron in the arena as well as on the television broadcast. Hernandez immediately unzipped his sweatshirt to reveal a T-Shirt which read "END THIS SPONSORSHIP" followed by the "#NoLeupold" hashtag activists have used to draw attention to the protest online.
We were remiss in not mentioning this in the paper earlier, but there is still great sadness at the passing last month of former Celtic security officer Grant Gray at age 87. He and his wife had moved to North Carolina to be around their children and grandchildren. Gray was a Marine Corps veteran, a Melrose native and a heck of a nice man.
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On an early morning in October 1983, a truck bomb destroyed the four-story Marine barracks. Among the dead were 220 Marines and 21 other service members. “I remember looking at all the photos afterward,” Kerr said. He started to cry. “I see all these, the nicest people, who I met and they were showing us around the base and just trying to do their jobs and keep the peace. And a truck bomb?” Kerr said he recognized some of the faces of the dead. “There is a chaplain who had come over and kind of taken us under his wing,” he said. “The nicest guy. And I saw his face. ...” Kerr wiped his eyes and took a deep breath. “What has it been, 30 years? And it still brings me to tears.”
Malcolm "Jimmy" Keep is an 88-year-old World War II veteran who was 18 when he fought with the Fourth Marine Division in the horrific 1945 Battle at Iwo Jima, which took the lives of 7,000 Marines. Later this month, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the battle, Keep is returning to the island for the first time. Before his trip, though, he was featured in his hometown paper, the Memphis Commercial Appeal, in which he revealed he is a die-hard Grizzlies fan who never misses a game on television. The tough-as-nails veteran has a particular fondness for the team's Grit 'n Grind bruiser, Zach Randolph. "They're men," Keep told the CA of the Grizz. "They're not afraid to bust your ass to get to the basket, especially [Zach] Randolph. Randolph's my man."
A ceremony scheduled between the first and second quarters of Friday’s Spurs-Kings game at AT&t Center will be relatively brief, but deeply meaningful to every member of the Spurs organization. Spurs chairman Peter Holt, representing Silver and Black Give Back, the fundraising arm of Spurs Sports and Entertainment, is to present to team physician Dr. David Schmidt and Andy Schoolmaster, dean of TCU’s college of liberal arts, a check for $100,000 to help fund an endowed history professorship at TCU named in honor of Benjamin Whetstone Schmidt, the late son of the team doctor. A graduate of Alamo Heights High School, Benjamin Schmidt attended TCU before joining the Marine Corps and becoming a sniper. He was killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan on April 6, 2011.
A day away from the one-year anniversary of the death of his son, a Marine scout sniper who was killed in action last October in Afghanistan, Dr. David Schmidt was in his element. Schmidt, the long-time Spurs team physician, was at the team practice facility on Friday, just hours removed from announcing that he and his wife Teresa are expanding their efforts to honor Benjamin Whetstone Schmidt. (Benjamin’s mother is a former Express-News columnist.) In addition to an individual scholarship fund that has already been established, they will also endow a history professorship at TCU, where Benjamin, who was 24, studied for three semesters before joining the Marines. “We decided we wanted to do something more to honor him, what he did, how much he loved TCU,” Schmidt said. “He wanted to be a history professor. So we decided if he can’t be a history professor, then we’ll name one for him. We thinks it’s something that will go a long way to honoring his memory and what he meant and how important TCU was to him.”