On May 27, before the sectional baseball game between Triton Central and Scecina at Park Tudor, I was shocked when the announcer said that in order to save time the national anthem would not be played.

I asked the person who made this decision why he would eliminate something so important that would have taken no more than two minutes. He had no answer, other than that the game was behind schedule and Scecina needed to be somewhere afterwards that he thought was more important.

I told him that the national anthem is the most important thing I have ever seen at any high school sporting event.

It is sad that our young people are not being taught more respect for our country and those who have given their lives for it.

Richard L. Larkey

Fairland