South Bend Cubs to Co-Host Military Appreciation Week

SOUTH BEND, IN - Military Appreciation Weekend is coming back to Four Winds Field for a second straight season. As part of Armed Forces Week, the South Bend Cubs will dedicate that week's games to our nation's military service branches. 

Armed Forces Week runs from May 24-30. As part of the celebration, the South Bend Cubs will hold their Weekend festivities on Sunday, May 26 and Memorial Day May 27. The event is co-hosted by Express Employment Professionals and the South Bend Cubs, who will come together to honor our veterans or currently-serving military personnel by offering two free tickets Sunday or Mondays games (with proof of service).
In order to bring awareness to the general public about the many circumstances, conditions, and issues surrounding our veteran and currently-serving military community, Express Employment Professionals and the South Bend Cubs will hold the second annual Military Appreciation Fair before the game on Sunday. This Fair will feature nearly 30 military and veterans service organizations and the Boy & Girl Scouts of America. The fair is designed to connect with fans coming to the game and to show how they can also make an impact for our veterans, military, and our country. 
The Memorial Day game on Monday will have a special 2:05 p.m. first pitch. As part of the pregame programs, a wreath-laying ceremony will be held at 12:45 p.m. hosted by 95.3 MNC's Casey Hendrickson and South Bend Cubs President Joe Hart. 
Other ceremony participants will include Survivor Outreach Services, the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association, Miller's Vets Color Guard, area Boy & Girls Scouts, and area dignitaries. During opening ceremonies, all in attendance will be invited to honor family members of our fallen heroes with the playing of "Taps" by a member of the Indiana National Guard. This will be followed by a moment of silence.  
Given that nearly 25 percent of our food insecure Hoosiers are military veterans, the South Bend Cubs will have a pass-the-hat donation on behalf of Express Employment Professionals annual corporate food drive, benefiting the Food Bank of Northern Indiana. 
Also, a part of the pre-game celebrations before both the Sunday and Monday games will be a helicopter landing on the field. Before the landing, The Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association, along with other area veteran riders, will be riding their motorcycles onto the field. Following will be the special live flyover and landing of Huey 369, a restored UH-1 Iroquois helicopter out of Peru, Indiana. The Huey was known as the workhorse of the Vietnam War, and is one of the most recognizable aircrafts in all of modern military warfare. 
Four Winds Field will also look the part, as the field will be adorned with fifty American Flags placed in-line by the Indiana Patriot Guard Riders in dedication of our Vietnam veterans. With the theme, "never again will one generation of veterans abandon another," Four Winds Field will recognize members of the Vietnam Veterans of America association during the weekend.
About the South Bend Cubs
The South Bend Cubs are the Class A minor league affiliate of the 2016 World Series Champion Chicago Cubs. Over the past 31 seasons, the team has won five Midwest League titles, most recently in 2005, and has captured 12 division titles. In 2019, the South Bend Cubs will host the Midwest League All-Star Game. In June 2017, Four Winds Field, home of the South Bend Cubs, was voted Best Class A ballpark in the country by Ballpark Digest. In 2015 the team was named Ballpark Digest's Team of the Year and received the John H. Johnson President's Award, the highest award in minor league baseball. The team is owned and operated by Swing-Batter-Swing, LLC whose principal shareholder is Andrew T. Berlin of Chicago, Ill.