Cardinals catcher Brayan Pena defected from Cuba to live in America and play big league baseball.
His path to the majors was far more harrowing than most ballplayers experience.
So when he says he is proud to be an American, he means it. And he is willing to back up that sentiment by volunteering to serve in the Army Reserve.
Tuesday afternoon he happily reported his acceptance with a posting on Twitter.
"It's something that I think is the right thing to do, because it's time to give something back to this great country," Pena said before Tuesday night's Cardinals-Pirates game.
"It's not something I just woke up and I did it. I've been giving it some thought and some research. I'm very excited, man. It's a honor for me."
For now he can't officially enlist and become eligible for deployment, due to his contract with the Cardinals extending through next season.
"But I can do a lot of stuff for our soldiers and I can still get the training and everything," Pena said. "This offseason I'm going to have my two weeks of training. I go to different bases and talk to our soldiers. I can do baseball clinics."
And when he's done playing, whenever that is, perhaps he will be ready to the join the troops himself.
"I'm very pleased," Pena said. "I'm very honored and I'm very happy. It's something that I feel in my heart. Anything I can do to help I'll do it."
