Cardinals host children of military families

For Claire Lackman, Busch Stadium on July 27 was more than just the scene of a Cardinals' win. The 5-2 victory over the Cubs marked Lackman's first Cardinals game. The experience was provided for a special reason.
Lackman was one of more than a dozen children in attendance that day, all honored guests of Veterans United and the Missouri National Guard. For the second consecutive year, the two organizations teamed up to take a select group of military families who have a parent serving overseas to a Cardinals game. The event, VU's director of military relations Pam Swan said, is "one way we can say thank you to our children and their parents or guardians for their daily sacrifices while their service member is deployed."
"The support family members and loved ones provide for our deployed men and women is vital to the American way of life and cannot go overlooked," Swan said.
Lackman, along with her brother and sister, qualified because their father is currently deployed in Kuwait.
"I think it's a day to make the kids feel special and take their mind off of Dad being deployed," said Linda Lackman, Claire's mother, "to just let them know its their day."
In all, 16 kids from 12 military families attended the night-long festivities, which began early. The guests were invited on the field for batting practice, where many took the chance to FaceTime their relatives overseas to share the special moment with them from across the globe.
"Baseball is something we can talk about together," said Christina Traber, whose husband is deployed. "Even if he's not here."
Once the action started, the Cardinals did not disappoint. On a night the club's front office significantly revamped its roster, the Cardinals pushed themselves back over the .500 mark behind a stingy Luke Weaver and three-hit nights from Yadier Molina and Paul DeJong. The Cardinals' second-half surge began that night; they went on to win 23 of their next 31 games and 10 series in a row.

All of which, of course, Lackman couldn't have known at the time. But just the one night at the ballpark was enough for her to say, "It's exciting. We should come back."
The end goal, for Veterans United, the National Guard and the Cardinals, was to provide at least a temporary reprieve from the daily challenges military families face. And through that lens, the night was a success.
"Being deployed myself, I always say that's the easiest part," said Major General Stephen L. Danner, the adjutant general for Missouri National Guard. "But we leave our spouses at home, and our kids. I think it's a relief, a great event to have the kids out here. It takes their mind off of that. It lets them know there are folks out here like Veterans United that really care about what their parents are doing."