Six Flags President Apologizes to Marine Over T-Shirt Incident

Six Flags Great Adventure has apologized to a U.S. Marine Corps veteran a week after a security guard at the Jackson amusement park denied him entry unless he changed his T-shirt.

According to an article on NJ.com, Mario Alejandro, a 33-year-old father of three from Woodbridge and former coach of the Cardinal McCarrick High School football team, served four years as a member of the U.S. Marine Corps infantry. He was part of the initial invasion into Iraq in 2003 and said he is classified as disabled. He suffered hearing loss and post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of his military service.

Alejandro told NJ.com the incident at Six Flags Great Adventure happened on Aug. 9 while he was wearing a black shirt – which was Father’s Day gift from his family - that had a red, white and blue gun and the words “Keep Calm and Return Fire” on the front and the logo and website for The Reconnaissance Foundation, a nonprofit organization that helps to support Recon Marines and their families, on the back.

Alejandro said he was attempting to enter the park with his family when a security guard told him that he had to change his shirt or buy another one to put over it because it was “offensive.”

On Saturday, Six Flags Great Adventure President John Fitzgerald personally called Alejandro to apologize. The apology was promptly accepted.

“Six Flags takes great pride in the various ways we honor, celebrate and support our military heroes,” Six Flags spokeswoman Kristin Siebeneicher said via email on Monday. “We strive to maintain a family-friendly environment and similar to many other public venues we have a dress code. Unfortunately, at the time our employee did not know Mr. Alejandro’s shirt was related to a military charity and we apologize to any military personnel who may have been offended by our mistake.”

Alejandro said that he appreciated the way Fitzgerald reached out to him directly, and not through an intermediary or an impersonal letter.

“The fact that this guy took the time to call me, to personally explain to me what their policy was and to apologize about the way things happened, it was pretty cool of him,” he said.

Read more here.