A powerful image of a man at an Atlanta Braves game holding an umbrella over a Junior ROTC member has gone viral
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By Caitlin O'kane, CBS News
A photo from an Atlanta Braves game is going viral online. The photo did not capture the action of the game, but instead, a random act of kindness on Memorial Day.
The photo of the kind gesture was posted on the Braves' Twitter. It shows a Junior ROTC cadet standing at attention next to SunTrust Park's memorial, which is dedicated to all of the soldiers who were prisoners of war or missing in action.
It was raining, so a man in the stands got up from his seat and stood next to the high school-aged cadet with an umbrella.
"Respect," the team simply captioned the photo.
A plaque in front of an empty chair reads: "Since World War I, more than 92,000 American soldiers are unaccounted for. This unoccupied seat is dedicated to the memory of these brave men and woman and to the sacrifices made in serving this country," KHOU reports. The chair sits empty during every game to help people remember soldiers who are POW or MIA.
A Parkview High School U.S. Marine Corps JROTC member was called to stand next to the chair during the game on Monday, local media reports. He seemed unbothered by the rain, but that did not stop a Braves fan from standing up to help him stay dry.
It is unclear who the kind stranger is, but his selfless act took the internet by storm. "They sacrifice so much for us, we can sacrifice for them too!!!," one user tweeted.
"Wow. This is beautiful on a LOT of different levels," another said. The JROTC student is still just a service-member-in training, but the respect he received on Memorial Day foreshadows the same respect he will receive as a Marine.
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