Military Appreciation Day will be observed at Texas A&M University in conjunction with the Aggies-Iowa State football game Saturday (Oct. 31).

A spokesperson for the Texas A&M Department of Athletics said “appreciation moments” directed to all veterans will be included throughout the game and, at halftime, the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band will perform “America the Beautiful” as a special recognition extended to the almost 600 currently enrolled students who have served in the military.

The Spirit Flag will be raised by Silver Wings, a student group that is part of a national service organization working to create strong leaders with professional attitudes.

Throughout the game, the 12 th Man TV at the south end of Kyle Field will highlight and honor veterans as well as personnel currently serving in the military.

All veterans, as well as currently enlisted service men and women, are being offered the opportunity to purchase half-price tickets to the game by logging onto AggieAthletics.com and clicking on tickets or going directly to http://tickets.12thmanfoundation.com and following the links to the Military Appreciation Day page. Veterans may also call the ticket hotline number at 1-888-99-AGGIE (888-992-4443) or locally at 1-979-845-2311 or purchase tickets in person at the Kyle Field ticket offices located at the north end of Kyle Field.

This special recognition follows Wednesday’s (Oct. 28) signing – on the 50-yard line at Kyle Field – of a special community covenant between the Army, Texas A&M and the cities of College Station and Bryan. The purpose of signing the covenant was to publicly demonstrate the support for local active and reserve force military members and their families by making a commitment – a covenant – between municipal and university leaders and service members, said Army officials.

In September, Texas A&M was formally recognized as a “Military Friendly School” by G.I. Jobs magazine, a designation that publisher Rich McCormack notes is awarded only to the top 15 percent of institutions of higher learning in the nation.

Texas A&M received this designation for its participation in the nation’s new GI Bill and related endeavors, an honor that university officials welcomed while pointing out that Texas A&M has been “military friendly” and a major contributor to the military since its opening 133 years ago.

“Clearly you have an interest in recruiting military students, and I urge you to continue your already stellar efforts by improving your military-friendliness every year,” McCormack said in notifying Texas A&M officials of its designation.

The G.I. Jobs “military friendly” designation is in addition to that bestowed on Texas A&M and other parts of The Texas A&M University System earlier this year through the Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges (SOC) program.

Contact: Contact: Lane Stephenson at 979-845-4662or l-stephenson@tamu.edu

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