A field of honor

River City baseball squad took part in recognizing our nation’s finest

January 19, 2022 by Ken Leinart

The grass is almost perfect — the lines from the mower are like an artist’s canvas.

The ground — sacred — is so much like a dream you want to but can’t quite remember.

It would be good ground for a pitch and a catch, a batted ball, a stab for a drive to the outfield.

But this is not the place.

And there is a young man, a middle-schooler and a baseball player, a young man who has been brought up in the old ways — the “Yes, sir,” and the “Yes Ma’am,” ways; and a young man raised with a feeling of gratitude for so much his country has bestowed on him and for those who made it possible.

Hayden Harrell.

He is the son of a Marine — because there is no such thing as a “former Marine,” unless you look in a cemetery — so he understands.

Hayden Harrell didn’t ask to be put in a spotlight. He didn’t ask that his teammates be put in the spotlight, either.

He and his teammates asked that others be put in that spotlight — the ones he and his River City Baseball teammates put wreaths on their tombstones.

That’s where the spotlight should shine.

Baseball is good and fun, Harrell said. “But this (wreath laying) means something.”

That is where the spotlight should shine.

His father, Theodore Harrell Jr., served from 2002-2006. He served with the 2nd Battalion 2nd Marine, and is a combat veteran having served two tours in Iraq.

When Hayden was a sixth-grader, he volunteered to place wreaths during the “Wreaths Across America” event.

Wreaths Across America’s website says, “Wreaths Across America’s mission touches the lives of thousands of school, scout, civic and religious groups across the country through fundraising for wreath sponsorships. These groups help us ensure that we reach our goal to place a wreath on each hero’s grave.”

And on this ground — this neutral ground — there are no hidden agendas; no partisan political messages.

As a sixth-grader, Harrell started this “mission.” In the seventh grade, more teammates came along. In his eighth-grade season, his leadership season, Harrell had more of a commitment.

“Coach (Brent) Burger and the rest of the guys … I think they understood why I wanted to do this,” Hayden said. “Why I think this is important.”

It’s the off-season. It’s eighth grade. Spring workouts haven’t begun yet. It’s that weird East Tennessee weather, too. Is it going to be warm? Cold? Rain?

Plus, there is so much going on in those middle-school boys’ bodies and minds that can’t be put into words.

For these young people, this age is a strange new world.

nBut they showed up Dec. 18.

There’s no promise of playing time involved. No dream of making it to the big leagues on this field.

What it boiled down to was a baseball team, as a team, paying respect.

And they showed up.

There was 100-percent attendance from the upperclassmen of the River City squad in 2021.

Assistant Coach Kenneth Lowe said the laying of the wreaths is the one of the most “important and humbling” undertakings the team does.

It gives them a sense, a feeling, of what it has taken to make their country what it is.

The actions of this group of young men is, for lack of better words, “remarkable.”

Honestly, nobody can tell you why a bunch of middle school baseball players showed up.

But they did.

And does it really matter why?

They. Showed. Up.

And they paid respect, and that’s not something you forget about.

“It was very … quiet,” Hayden said. “It makes you think.”

There won’t be nationwide or internet coverage of what a bunch of young baseball players did to honor the fallen of our nation’s finest.

There will only be memories of what these young men did — for themselves if nothing else.

“Coach Burger supported me from the beginning,” Harrell said.

“He understood why I wanted to do this.”

That first year, alone, Harrell didn’t so much convince teammates, as he did show that the laying of the wreaths is an important acceptance of what sacred ground really is.

“It’s a stepping stone,” Hayden said. “To let people know what was sacrificed for this country.

“It is just a stepping stone.”

In his two years as an unofficial leader of the Clinton River City Baseball team, Hayden said his teammates “understand,” the “whats” and the “whys” — though unspoken — explaining his actions in doing this.

“This is one of the best ways we can show how we appreciate everything,” he said.

Hayden Harrell and his teammates are realizing, “The price of freedom isn’t free,” and realize that often used cliche is not really a cliche.

It’s a truth.

And despite his humility, he hopes future River City team members will continue to thank and honor those who made a field of dreams possible.

He also hopes to carry that same commitment and promise to his teammates when he hits the high school diamond.

Why make such a commitment at such an early age?

The answer is in the wreaths.

And those lying underneath those headstones.