MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Walking across Horace Jones Field in Middle Tennessee State University’s Floyd Stadium with U.S. Army veterans attending the Salute to Veterans and Armed Forces game, Bob Lamb of Murfreesboro proudly held a framed photograph of Bud Morris, his best friend, taken in action during the Vietnam War.
“Bud and I have walked the field for the past 40 years at the Salute to Veterans game,” said Lamb, referencing the six service branches marching across the field as the Band of Blue performed their theme songs. “In that way (holding the photo), he could still be with us. ‘No man left behind’ (military core value attributed to U.S. Army Rangers).” Standing in the Jeff Hendrix Stadium Club, Morris saluted his fellow veterans.
An annual tradition as part of Veterans Day, observed annually nationwide Nov. 11, the 42nd Salute to Veterans game — this year, visiting Liberty University defeated the Blue Raiders 37-17 — recognized veterans and active-duty personnel for service to their country. The effort was led by the Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Centerand the Blue Raider Athletics.
The day featured the Veterans Memorial Service, Vet Village, Salute to Service picnic and tailgate, Raider Walk, Party in the Grove featuring alumnus Tyrone “Tyke T” Stroble, game ball drop from an Aerospace Department Unmanned Aircraft Systems drone and more.
Murfreesboro resident Bill Allen, 99, received the annual Joe Nunley Sr. Award for service. A World War II veteran, educator, MTSU professor, Alumni Relations director and Blue Raider Hall of Fame member, Nunley helped establish the Salute to Veterans game in 1982.
“Freedom is not free,” said Allen, a U.S. Navy corpsman and medic caring for casualties who was among 27 survivors when their ship struck an underwater mine, killing 117 sailors, during D-Day on the Normandy, France, beaches. “It is the most expensive thing this nation has bought … the lives lost, the blood and tears shed, all for that cause.”
Armed Forces pregame activities in Walnut Grove included Vet Village, the Salute to Service picnic and tailgate, Raider Walk, Party in the Grove and more Saturday, Nov. 9, on the MTSU campus in Murfreesboro, Tenn. (MTSU photo by Andy Heidt)
Veteran, young ROTC viewpoints
Wendell Wingo of Murfreesboro spent 24 years in the U.S. Air Force, retiring as a master sergeant in 1988 after traveling the U.S. and the world, serving in Vietnam (1970-72), Japan, Italy, Korea, Hong Kong and Germany.
Attending the event for the past five years, Wingo said there’s “lots of useful information for vets and the parade of veterans (at halftime) is nice, too.”
Morgan Sheldon, 18, an MTSU freshman from Murfreesboro studying exercise science, is on a $69,000 Minuteman Scholarship with the U.S. Army Reserve. She and other ROTC cadets served veterans and their families breakfast and barbecue items at the veterans tailgate.
Sheldon’s role at the event meant “getting to see the patriotism and love shown by the campus,” she said, adding she “would like to branch medical as a physical therapist, with a contract commitment to serve eight years, but I believe I would like to serve a full 20 years.”
Historical perspective surrounding MTSU World War II heroes
Kicking things off at the annual Veterans Memorial Service, alumnus and History Department Master Instructor Derek Frisby shared from his research about the lives of Robert Sarvis and Obry Moore, two of nearly 40 former Middle Tennessee State Teachers College/Middle Tennessee State College students killed serving their country during World War II.
Frisby “focused on the MTSU fallen veterans during 1944, especially the story of Robert Sarvis and the creation of memorial in France at his crash site due to the efforts of my Education Abroad programs and local (French) residents,” he said.
The 129th Army Band Freedom Winds and 129th Army Band Center Mass also performed.
Borderless Arts Tennessee dancers performed during the game. They danced in Bastogne, Belgium, when the group traveled there to honor the 80th anniversary of those who fought at the Battle of the Bulge, laying a wreath on behalf of the United States, said Lori Kissinger, Communications Studies master instructor and Borderless Arts TN director.
Thankful for contributions
The Daniels Center and MT Athletics received support from Mid-South Ford Dealers, Single Tree Wood Fire BBQ, First Watch, the Army National Guard (static displays and tents), Donut Country, MTSU’s ROTC students and others.
Vet Village participants included the Metro Nashville Police Department, MTSU’s Campus Recreation Center, Operation Stand Down, Project Healing Waters, U.S. Navy recruiter Sandra Guzman, the Department of Veterans Affairs and more.
— Randy Weiler (Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu)
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