NEW YORK(FLUSHING MEADOWS,SMI-SPORTS,09.01.19)-The USTA today announced that its annual Military Appreciation Day has been renamed in honor of Lt. Joe Hunt, the only U.S. Nationals or US Open champion to lose their life in service to their country. The day will be renamed the Lt. Joe Hunt US Open Military Appreciation Day. Held annually on Labor Day, the event is now in its seventh year.

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The US Open will welcome members of the Hunt family for a ceremonial coin toss at the start of the evening session. They will be joined by Vice Admiral Sean S. Buck, the 63rd Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy for an on-court tribute to the late tennis champion. As a supporter of the USTA’s efforts in supporting veterans and their families throughout the country and at the USTA National Campus, this will mark Buck’s second US Open Military Day appearance.

 

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the National Junior Tennis and Learning (NJTL) network, the USTA and USTA Foundation will honor Major Heba Bullock of the United States Army, a former NJTL participant from “15-Love” in Albany, N.Y.,  and a 2008 West Point graduate. Joining Bullock for the ceremonial coin toss will be Lieutenant General Darryl A. Williams, the 60th Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy (USMA) at West Point. Williams will make his second consecutive on-court appearance for US Open Military Appreciation Day.  

 

Multiple coin toss ceremonies and in-stadium recognitions are slated for the day and night sessions in Arthur Ashe Stadium beginning with two United States Navy veterans who currently participate in the USTA’s weekly tennis clinic for local veterans at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla.

 

In addition, multiple military families supported by “Thanks USA,” a national program that provides scholarships and other assistance to the children and spouses of military service members and veterans, in partnership with JTCC and the Wounded Warrior Project, will all have an opportunity to participate in the first-ever military family Net Generation on-court demonstration on court in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

 

The US Open will once again honor one of the nation’s WWII veterans, welcoming 97-year-old Air Force and Signal Corps vet Sy Bosworth, who took part in the D-Day operation, the Battle of the Bulge, and participated in the liberation of the Buchenwald Concentration Camp.

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The night sessions for Military Appreciation Day will kick off with the National Anthem by Tony Award-nominated actress & recording artist Melissa Errico, who has starred in seven Broadway shows and TV shows including Showtime’s “Billions.” Just before the final match of the evening, 13-year-old Daniel Wright of West Point, N.Y., one of 12 winners selected to sing patriotic-themed songs during the night sessions will perform “America The Beautiful.”

 

In support of the day’s celebration, Chase, a US Open sponsor, provided tickets to be distributed to various military-affiliated organizations to attend Military Appreciation Day, including Military Service men and women from USO of Metropolitan New York.

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