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Soldiers blast Chargers for cropping out a soldier to remove ‘San Diego’ in picture

Chargers

The Los Angeles Chargers keep shooting themselves in the foot in terms of actions that turn off their fans, including the soldiers who were included in a promotional Tweet for #SaluteToService week in the NFL.

This is the tweet the Chargers sent out on Tuesday.

Now here’s the actual photo.

Many on social media decried the crop, noting an actual soldier was cut out of the picture just so “San Diego” wasn’t included.

Now the person who arranged for the photo has spoken up. Retired Army Sgt. First Class Johnny Case was on his fourth tour of duty and second in Afghanistan when he set up the picture the Chargers used.

“For them to do that to my picture, and not even ask, to crop out one of our guys … it was like, ‘Wow, of course they’re going to do that,’ ” Case said Friday morning in a phone interview with Tod Leonard of The San Diego Union-Tribune. “They have this spite for San Diego. But it’s not about San Diego. It’s a soldier. It’s Veterans Day. You cropped out a veteran.

“I was (mad), but I guess social media had my back and took it over for me. “People are saying, ‘You should sue Dean Spanos,’ ” Case added with a laugh. “I wish. I’d bring the team right back to San Diego.”

The soldier who was cropped out of the Chargers’ picture on social media was Minh Tran.

“I felt it was disrespectful of them to crop me out, but I’m more upset about them cropping out the bottom of the flags,” Tran said Friday in a text. “Everyone in that picture supported the San Diego Chargers. I grew up watching the team and I supported them whether they won or lost.”

The Chargers have apologized for cropping the picture, via a spokesman, noting “The photo should not have been cropped.”

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