Air Force dad leaves family in tears during MLB All-Star Game when he walks onto field
There is no event in sports as emotional as the surprise reveal of a member of the military returning to civilian life.
Particularly in baseball and football, our national pastime and our national fall obsession respectively, where the connection between what soldiers fight for and what they get to come home to is unmistakable even to the most jaded cultural observer.
And when the baseball game in question is the Major League Baseball All-Star Game?
Well, get Grandma’s apple pie recipe and fire up the oven, because that’s as American as it gets.
Staff Sgt. Cole Condiff had been on his second deployment as a member of the Air Force’s Special Tactics wing, fighting Operation Enduring Freedom and helping the military put warheads on the enemy’s foreheads in Afghanistan.
But Wednesday, he was at the All-Star Game, talking about baseball and life with the Washington Nationals’ Sean Doolittle.
Also at the game was Condiff’s wife Rachel, daughter, sister, and as-yet unborn next child in attendance as part of the Geico-sponsored Seats for Service program, which gives military families tickets to baseball games as a token of thanks for their loved ones risking their lives to make peaceful civilian life possible.
“I know a little bit,” Cole replied. “They’re bringing her out there. They’re going to show her a video that I did earlier today, where I had a beard still, so it’s going to be really weird.”
And indeed, the family was brought out for what at the time looked like a little tribute, blissfully oblivious to the surprise awaiting them.
And on the Jumbotron, the video began to play, the sound booming throughout the stadium on a warm summer night.
https://www.facebook.com/usatoday/videos/367624290433950/
“Hey I’m Staff Sgt. Condiff, Air Force combat controller, out here supporting Operation Enduring Freedom,” Cole said in the video as Rachel began to cry. “I’d just like to take this opportunity to say hello to my wife, my daughter. Rachel, I’m excited to see you in a couple weeks. Charley, happy birthday. Sorry that I won’t be there to see your third birthday. But I’d also like to thank Geico and Major League Baseball for giving me this opportunity to say hello to my family.”
And while the family watched the video, Condiff came up behind them like a ninja.
Rachel turned around first, greeting Condiff with a huge hug, and as the crowd went wild, the rest of the family got in on the hug party.
Condiff didn’t miss his daughter’s birthday after all; he made it by four days.
“Thank you to the Condiff family for your commitment to our country,” the announcer said.
And good on Major League Baseball, the Washington Nationals, and the folks at Geico for giving Americans a tangible reminder of what our soldiers are fighting for as they protect the American way of life at home and abroad.
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