By Mary O’KEEFE

Chris Sambar and his family spent Memorial Day doing something not many ever get to do. He threw out the opening pitch at the Red Sox vs. Blue Jays game at Boston’s Fenway Park. He did this in honor and memory of U.S. military men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice while serving their country.

“Chris, a veteran, was chosen in recognition of his work and commitment to help and support fellow veterans,” said Chakib “Chuck” Sambar, his father and former member of the Glendale Unified School District.

Chris volunteers and supports the organization “Carry the Load.”

“The [organization] was started by some [Navy] Seals and I help out the organization,” Chris said.

Chris is a former Navy Seal. He attended the Naval Academy and was in the service from 1991 to 2014, which included 10 years of active duty and his tour in Iraq from 2005 to 2006. His friends started “Carry the Load” and he thought it was a great way to help others. The two Seals who founded the organization, Clint Bruce and Stephen Holley, are friends of Chris.

The non-profit organization is “dedicated to providing active, meaningful ways to honor and celebrate the sacrifices made by our nation’s heroes – military, law enforcement, firefighters and first responders,” according to the website.

Chris is the senior vice president of AT&T-FirstNet. “Carry the Load” spends the month of March raising awareness of its goals through various events. It was founded in 2011 and began with a 20-hour, 11-minute Memorial March in Dallas, Texas. The next year it expanded to include an East Coast Relay from West Point, New York to Dallas, Texas during the month of Mary. The relay leg captains walk in five-mile increments, carrying the American flag to raise awareness to the sacrifices of the nation’s heroes. It expanded again to the west coast with a relay that begins in Seattle, Washington and ends in Dallas, Texas.

It was because of the busy Memorial Day weekend that Chris was asked to help by throwing out the first pitch at Fenway Park in Boston.

“I was called about a month ago and asked if I would throw out the ball for ‘Carry the Load,’” he said.

Chris is not a person who likes to be center stage – he would rather be with his fellow Seals as just one of them – but, he said, those at “Carry the Load” needed someone to represent the organization on the East Coast and he now lives in Virginia, so he agreed.

“It was funny,” he said of the day of the pitch. “I wanted to get it across the plate. So many people don’t make it or it bounces off the home plate.”

He knew the kind of jokes that would be made by his friends if he didn’t make it across the plate.

“My son, who is 13 years old, said he was really nervous because of all the noise [at the stadium],” he said. “But I did all right.”

  Mary Okeefe