Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Times
February 22, 2008
Pg. 9
Inside the Beltway
By John McCaslin
Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England noted before the Washington Capitals hockey game Wednesday night that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates remains "on injured reserve" after slipping on an icy path near his home and injuring his shoulder.
Otherwise, it was Military Appreciation Night at the Verizon Center, where the Capitals honored 5,000 service members and their families with free admission and hosted dozens of wounded warriors from U.S. military hospitals. Some 18,000 fans attended the Capitals-New York Islanders contest, and they all rose to their feet to give the deserving troops an extended standing ovation.
It was the sixth year that Capitals owner Ted Leonsis hosted the military. He pointed out before the game that his father, Louis T. Leonsis, came to America from Greece and spent seven years in the U.S. Navy, serving on the USS Bunker Hill. He died last September just shy of his 94th birthday.
"My father was an American first and foremost," Mr. Leonsis recalled. "We should never lose sight that our country is made up of individuals, and the men and women who serve our country really deserve our respect and our thanks, and this is our small way of doing it."
February 22, 2008
Pg. 9
Inside the Beltway
By John McCaslin
Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England noted before the Washington Capitals hockey game Wednesday night that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates remains "on injured reserve" after slipping on an icy path near his home and injuring his shoulder.
Otherwise, it was Military Appreciation Night at the Verizon Center, where the Capitals honored 5,000 service members and their families with free admission and hosted dozens of wounded warriors from U.S. military hospitals. Some 18,000 fans attended the Capitals-New York Islanders contest, and they all rose to their feet to give the deserving troops an extended standing ovation.
It was the sixth year that Capitals owner Ted Leonsis hosted the military. He pointed out before the game that his father, Louis T. Leonsis, came to America from Greece and spent seven years in the U.S. Navy, serving on the USS Bunker Hill. He died last September just shy of his 94th birthday.
"My father was an American first and foremost," Mr. Leonsis recalled. "We should never lose sight that our country is made up of individuals, and the men and women who serve our country really deserve our respect and our thanks, and this is our small way of doing it."