Randall Reed’s Planet Ford in Humble and John Center, General Manager is proud to support our community, including our veteran organization. Recently, our team had the honor of sponsoring a hole at the Major Stephen Reich Memorial Golf Tournament.
It was one of our own, Blake LeDoux from Kingwood, Texas who shared the event and opportunity to support our heroes. Mr. LeDoux is an Army baseball player at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He was a four-year varsity baseball player at Kingwood Park and JUCO baseball at Alvin Community College.
Major Reich, whom the tournament honors, was also a baseball player for West Point. He served four tours of duty in Afghanistan and sadly he was killed in action on June 28, 2005 during a mission to rescue a four-man Navy SEAL team, as depicted in the book and movie ‘Lone Survivor’.
According to Fox Sports, who had a 12-minute special on Major Reich, he was one of 16 troops aboard the helicopter attempting to rescue their Navy Seal brothers when it was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade, killing all onboard. Reich grew up in Washington Depot, CT and was a three-sport athlete at Shepaug Valley High School before becoming a star pitcher for the United States Military Academy at West Point. His promising professional baseball career lasted only two games for a Baltimore Orioles farm team before the Army summoned him back to active duty.
Watch the Fox Sports Special
A Soldier’s Story – Major Stephen Reich from FSN Creative Content Group on Vimeo.
On behalf of Mr. Centner and Planet Ford, we thank all who have served and their family. We are forever grateful for all you have done and do for our country. We salute you.
If you’d like to show your support for our service athletes, you may make a contribution to the Army Baseball Team Fund. It supports the Margin of Excellence, which directly impacts our ability to sow the seeds in developing leaders of character committed to the values of Duty, Honor, Country. The Army Baseball Team Fund funds the following areas:
- Facility Enhancements (Locker Room, Stadium, Team Room)
- Player Development (Equipment, Leadership, Nutrition, Training Aids)
- Recruiting
- Team Travel (out-of-region and out-of-season competition, training trips, foreign trips)
- Technology Improvements (Video/Editing Software)
For assistance making your gift, please call 845.938.2322 or email ODIAAClub@westpoint.edu. Please note, sport-specific gifts are not eligible for Army A Club benefits. You may visit: https://www.westpointaog.org/adf?giveto=armybaseball.