MLB Ump plans trip to visit with Vets

Fort Mitchell, Ky. — When Major League Baseball Umpire Jerry Layne talks, people listen. Whether calling balls and strikes in major league games or telling amusing baseball anecdotes to injured and ill veterans at VA medical centers – he gets attention. He’ll be telling those stories and more to veterans on June 22, 2018, during a special celebrity visit to the Fort Thomas Domiciliary, in Fort Thomas, KY.

Umpires have the reputation of being gruff, no nonsense guys who don’t want their judgment questioned, but Jerry’s heart overflows when he visits injured and ill veterans in VA medical centers. He’s been umpiring in the majors since 1988, a profession which demands that he visit each city on the major league circuit. It’s during those trips that he takes time to visit veterans who are patients in VA medical centers as part of the DAV VA Voluntary Service (VAVS) program.

“I want to bring smiles and brighter days to those veterans who have given so much to our country,” Mr. Layne said. “I want them to know they are appreciated.”

There are 197 VA medical centers in the US which treat the 2.3 million veterans represented by the DAV. Many veterans spend long, lonely hours during lengthy hospital stays and Mr. Layne’s visits are enthusiastically welcomed. Major League Baseball Umpire Larry Barnett started the hospital visit program in 1977 as part of the DAV VAVS program and actively recruited Mr. Layne.

“We have a free country because veterans made it free and keep it free,” Mr. Layne said. “Brightening the lives of injured and ill veterans with a friendly visit is a very small price to pay for what all Americans owe them