News and Media Relations contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-5616 or Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu
MTSU Athletics
contact: Marco Born, 615-898-5260 or Marco.Born@mtsu.edu
MURFREESBORO — Organizers
are preparing for the largest Salute to Armed Services/Veterans Day event in
the 31 years it has been held at MTSU.
Between 700 and 1,000 veterans and active-duty military
personnel are invited and expected to attend the Saturday, Oct. 27, events on
campus.
“It’s going to be an exciting day,” said Marco Born,
assistant athletic director in marketing and the ticket office. “It will be a
busy day, but exciting. So much planning — eight or nine months — has gone into
this by our committee.”
In addition to the morning Veterans Memorial Service, one of
the annual highlights will be the naming of the Joe Nunley Award winner. This
year, World War II veteran Em T. Ghianni, 90, of Nashville, is the honoree.
Another much-anticipated part of the day comes during
halftime when the nearly 460-member Band of Blue pays a special patriotic
salute to the U.S. Armed Forces: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast
Guard.
As their particular branch’s military marching music is
played, veterans and active-duty personnel will walk (some in wheelchairs,
aided by family or friends) across Horace Jones Field in a moving ceremony.
The day is full of events, including:
•10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. — Healthcare and Benefits Fair near
Floyd Stadium Gate 3, presented by the Veterans Affairs/Tennessee Valley
Healthcare System;
• 11 to 11:30 a.m. — Veterans Memorial Service outside the
Tom H. Jackson Building;
• 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. — Pregame picnic at the Kennon Sports
Hall of Fame;
• 1 to 1:30 p.m. — Presentation of the Joe Nunley Award at
the Kennon Sports Hall of Fame;
• 2:30 p.m. — MTSU vs. North Texas kickoff; and
• 4 p.m. (time approximate) — Halftime salute to U.S. Armed
Services.
During the morning memorial service, veteran and
Murfreesboro businessman Fayne Haynes will be the featured speaker. After the
ceremony, World War II veterans will be honored by the planting of a tree near
the memorial site. A bugler will render a salute with the playing of “Taps.”
“We are expecting our largest Salute to Veterans event
ever,” Born said, referring to the effort by the athletics department to visit
and personally invite veterans and staff at veterans’ facilities in Nashville,
Smyrna and Murfreesboro and the role primary sponsors State Farm, Barrett Firearms,
Bridgestone, USAA and the National Guard have played in purchasing tickets for
the special guests.
Soldiers and veterans from Clarksville and Fort Campbell,
Ky., also are expected to attend, Born said.
For the first time, a silent auction benefiting Toys for
Tots will be set up inside the Kennon Hall of Fame. Anyone attending the game
or Salute to Armed Services events may participate in the auction, which will
end at 1:45 p.m.
Representing the family, Joe Nunley Jr. will participate in
the ceremony. Joe Nunley Sr. was a U.S. Army World War II veteran who retired
as alumni director at MTSU in 1987 and previously had been a professor in
education starting in 1961. He died in 1993.
Also taking place:
• the game coin, to be delivered by a PackBot robot from the
MTSU aerospace department’s unmanned aerial system program;
• the coin toss, to be performed jointly by retired U.S.
Army Staff Sgt. Daniel Bivens, a two-time combat veteran and Purple Heart
recipient, and Lance Cpl. Eric Frazier, who lost both legs while serving in
Iraq and received a Purple Heart and other awards;
• the national anthem will be performed by retired Sgt. Joe
Wilson Sr.; and
• the Marine Corps-sponsored Toys for Tots will be
collecting new toys at each gate.
Born said Boy and Girl Scouts will be in attendance.
To find parking on campus, use this a printable campus map is available at http://tinyurl.com/MTParkingMap12-13.
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Media welcomed (Note:
Entrance to Floyd Stadium requires special media credential. Contact MTSU
Athletic Communications at 615-898-2968.)
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