Five servicemembers show off their arms at Nationals game

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WASHINGTON (AFPN) --  On a sweltering hot day in the nation's capitol, five members of the armed forces were given the chance to take part in a Major League Baseball tradition.

Representatives from the Air Force, Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard each threw out a ceremonial "first pitch" before the Washington Nationals game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on July 2. The event was part of the July Fourth weekend's "Military Appreciation Day" activities at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium here.

Before game-related events kicked off, more than a dozen young men and women were sworn in to the armed forces by Army Brig. Gen. Arthur M. Bartell, Joint Staff vice director for operational plans and joint force development in Washington, D.C.

Following a performance of the national anthem by the Air Force Singing Sergeants, the servicemembers took turns throwing their pitches to Nationals pitcher Michael O'Conner.

The Air Force representative was Senior Airman Joseph Buzanowski, a public affairs specialist with Detachment 16, Air Force News Agency, in Washington, D.C. Before the game, he practiced pitching with a rubber ball at his Arlington, Va., office, but was still a little anxious when he took the field.

"To be honest, I was a little nervous going down there. I mean here we are in front of the entire stadium of baseball fans, and representing (our services)," he said. "But we all pulled through, we all did well, we all got it to the plate -- I think that was the main goal."

Airman Buzanowski is from Long Island, N.Y., and has been a baseball fan his entire life. He said the event is something he'll long remember.

"It's been a fantastic experience," he said. "(It's) something I'll remember forever -- I'll even have the ball to prove it."

Other servicemembers were Army Staff Sgt. Jody Belzer, 289th Military Police Company at Fort Meyer, Va.; Marine Corps First Sgt. Bobby Barnett, Henderson Hall Company in Washington, D.C.; Navy Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Roberto Medrano, National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda, Md.; and Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Seth Cockram, Headquarters U.S. Coast Guard.

Each servicemember chosen to participate was a veteran of either operation Enduring Freedom or Iraqi Freedom. While Petty Officer Cockram did not deploy in support of those operations, he did participate in relief operations for Hurricane Katrina. All participants were allowed to keep the pitched ball as a souvenir.

The Nationals beat the Devil Rays 6-2.