Monday, May 30, 2005
Newstimeslive.com Soldier says his pitch broke Bambino's curse
“They didn’t win in 86 years because I never threw out a pitch.”
Von Zehle, who served in Iraq with the Danbury-based Army Reserve unit, threw out the first pitch of the Red Sox-Dodgers game June 13, 2004. He hobbled to the hill still wearing a walking cast on his right foot, a reminder of the August, 2003 bombing of the United Nations office in Baghdad.
The U.N. headquarters was right next to where the 411th operated. Von Zehle was the first American on the scene after the attack. A firefighter, the Ridgefield resident dove into the rubble to pull out survivors. U.N. envoy Sergio de Mello died in his arms as the 53-year-old von Zehle tried in vain to save him.
“They didn’t win in 86 years because I never threw out a pitch.”
Von Zehle, who served in Iraq with the Danbury-based Army Reserve unit, threw out the first pitch of the Red Sox-Dodgers game June 13, 2004. He hobbled to the hill still wearing a walking cast on his right foot, a reminder of the August, 2003 bombing of the United Nations office in Baghdad.
The U.N. headquarters was right next to where the 411th operated. Von Zehle was the first American on the scene after the attack. A firefighter, the Ridgefield resident dove into the rubble to pull out survivors. U.N. envoy Sergio de Mello died in his arms as the 53-year-old von Zehle tried in vain to save him.
