10/27/2025
Last Sunday, October 19th, my dad and I attended the San Francisco 49er game at Levi’s Stadium. My dad was being honored by the 49ers as their Frontline Hero of the Game for his military service and for turning 100 in December. It was an incredible and unforgettable day!! We were treated like VIPs from the moment we got to the stadium. The 49ers gave us free tickets and a parking pass in the VIP parking garage. Our es**rt, Michelle, met us just inside the gate. She es**rted us down to the field to watch the team warm up. We were on the 8-yard line so the players were about 20 feet away from us. Michelle separated the crowd that was already watching the players warm up allowing us to be up against the rope so no one could block my dad’s view. We were there for an hour and a half. After that, Michelle es**rted us to the opposite end of the field on the other side for the tunnel we would have to use to get my dad onto the field for the ceremony. I pushed my dad onto the field where a woman commentator read my dad’s WWII bio. Dad waved at the crowd as his bio was read. It was shown on the jumbotron at each end of the stadium. My dad’s name and rank were at each end of the jumbotron. The crowd gave my dad a standing ovation – clapping, cheering and whistling. I was overwhelmed with tears running down my face. When we got off the field, Michelle told us that it is very rare for someone to get a standing ovation. After the ceremony, Michelle took us up to the SF 49ers owner’s suite to watch the rest of the game and eat dinner from the buffet of food in the suite. The owner’s wife thanked us for coming to the game and the suite. Neal Schon from Journey and the rapper E-40 were in the suite with us. There were some 49er player’s wives there too. My dad smiled more than I’ve seen him smile in a long time. He stayed awake the whole time, missing his afternoon nap. It couldn’t have been a more perfect day…a memory we both will cherish!!