MCDOC Presenting the Colors
Kraig Emery
Like many growing up in New England, I fell in love with the Boston Red Sox at an early age. I remember being a child of around four or five, pretending I couldn't sleep, so my father would allow me to sleep on the couch. Of course, I conveniently hatched this plan whenever he was watching the Red Sox on TV and, although the condition was that “I kept my head under the covers,” I, with incredible stealth, naturally found a way to peek out. This led to a lifelong bond between father and son; an obsession with baseball and a strong desire to one day play for the Red Sox on the hallowed grounds of Fenway Park. This, alas, never came to fruition.
Fast forward several decades. As a veteran member of the Merrimack County Department of Corrections Honor Guard, with nearly 19 years in the profession, I have had the distinct honor of organizing team events for the better part of my career. This includes local parades, ceremonies, civic events, law enforcement memorials, and funerals. There has also been some fun stuff, like marching in the Christmas Parade and presenting Colors for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the AA Minor League Affiliate of Major League Baseball's Toronto Blue Jays. It took several years of exchanging emails and making phone calls, but in 2013, our team was invited to Fenway Park to present Colors before a Red Sox game and did so twice more before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Having been several years since our last appearance, I made it a mission to get our team back out there again this year. Not an easy task because, as you can imagine, every Honor/Color Guard in New England is chomping at the bit to be selected for one of the 81 home games. The Sox are smart, not having the contact information for the person responsible easily accessible. It took work, but in the end, it all played out.
Getting Back Out There
We got the call a few days before, requesting that our team present the Colors before the June 11th Tampa Bay Rays vs. the Boston Red Sox game. After getting the green light from our command staff, the gears were in motion to get the team lineup activated, coordinate transportation, and ensure we were squared away with equipment and uniforms.
Our eight-member team is fortunate to be diverse among several corrections disciplines to include supervisors and officers from all shifts, a booking officer, and a case manager. Activated for this event were: Sergeant Christopher Tucker – American Flag, Sergeant Michael Kistner – New Hampshire State Flag, Case Manager Elizabeth Reynolds, and me, Sergeant Kraig Emery – Rifles.
After gearing up, we took the roughly 90-minute drive down I-93 to Boston. Of course, when we arrived, we had to find parking, which translated into a parking lot where they were trying to essentially stuff 10 pounds of potatoes into a five-pound bag. After some haggling, we convinced the attendant to allow us to park, so we had about 18 inches of space to get the gear out. Thanks, pal. It has to get better from here. We got our gear to the ballpark a few blocks away, checked in, and were greeted by ballpark staff.
The Fenway Ambassadors, Tom and Rebecca, brought us onto the third base concourse, where we passed by the fan-favorite entertainer in stilts, “Big League Brian.” I caught a slight glance at the field and heard the hawkers in the distance selling game programs, and the vendors yelling, “Hot Dogs! Peanuts!” The smell of stale beer and sausages combined with the crunch of discarded roasted peanut shells with every step as we walked among hundreds of fans. This is my sanctuary. We were brought through a high security entrance leading us below the stands, where there are pallets of field dirt, turf, and rolls of tarp. We were led through the staff breakroom into the locker rooms, which are painted red, white, and blue with Red Sox logos galore. We stowed our equipment and uniforms and were graciously allowed to roam the Fenway concourse with a promise to return in twenty minutes.
Anxious with excitement, we met the ambassadors within ten minutes and returned to the locker rooms to get in uniform and gear up. We then work together on basic Drill & Ceremony training underneath the stands. This is the big stage, but as we always say, “Whether event attendance is 30 or 300, we always put on our best performance.” In this case, it would be over 30,000. Soon we will be doing it for real, but at the moment, I felt a calm come over me that I can't explain. I took the time to reflect on my Honor Guard experiences and the reality that, at this stage in my career, this may be my last chance to march onto the field I dreamed of running onto as a player.
We were brought underneath the threshold of a garage door leading to the left field “Warning Track” in front of the left field wall, The Green Monster (or "Monstah" if you're local). Previously, they had us march out behind 2nd Base, so this is a new experience. To stand on the same ground as Hall of Famers Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, and Jim Rice? Is this real?
The public address announcer comes over the sound system, “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to Fenway Park, America's oldest and most beloved ballpark. Now presenting our Nation’s Colors, we'd like to welcome the Merrimack County Department of Corrections Honor Guard from Boscawen, New Hampshire.”
On cue, as the national anthem began, we marched out onto the field, in perfect unison that within the team, you don't see; you feel. When the last note is played and sung by the fans, the eruption of cheers literally makes the ground shake. No. They weren't cheering for us. They were cheering for the perfect weather for a ballgame, the hometown team, and for America. Does it get any better?
A Dream Fulfilled
Throughout the experience, each had personal feelings about what it meant. We went as a team of four, representing our agency and profession. No friends or family accompanied us to share the moment. As for me, I thought of all we represent and reflected on the importance of the moment. How fortunate we are to have had the opportunity, and how few get to experience it. I thought of my father, who passed on years ago, and those games of catch and talking baseball. I thought of my wife and kids at home, the children I played with on the old sandlots of the neighborhood, and the dream of a small boy.
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Kraig Emery is the Training Sergeant at the Merrimack County Department of Corrections in Boscawen, NH. With 19 years in the profession, he has served as a Field Training Officer and floor supervisor, a classroom Instructor in-house and at the New Hampshire Association of Counties Corrections Academy. He is a veteran member of the agency's Honor Guard team and is invited annually as a guest speaker at the New Hampshire Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony. For more information, he can be contacted at kraig.emery@aol.com