NASHVILLE, Tenn. ñ Vanderbilt University will honor the men and women of the United States Armed Services on Saturday, Oct. 11, during Military Appreciation Day, which will include an F-18 jet flyover minutes before the 1 p.m. CST kickoff of the Vanderbilt-Navy football game.
Military Appreciation Day, a series of events planned in conjunction with Vanderbilt’s homecoming game, includes a special ticket promotion for members of the armed services. Current and retired members of the military can purchase up to four tickets at $5 each to see the Commodores take on the United States Naval Academy Midshipmen.
Minutes prior to kickoff, three Navy F-18 jets will perform a flyover of the stadium. VFA-106, the gladiators from Naval Air Station Oceana, Va., will perform the flyover. Veteran pilots from the War on Terrorism will fly the planes, they are: Lt. "Scrappy" Hanle and Lt. "Baja" Hart of the U.S. Navy and Lt. Cmdr. "Tats" Tattersal with Britain’s Royal Navy. Ensign Andrea "Alky" Alvord, a recent Naval ROTC graduate from Vanderbilt University will ride in the 2nd seat of Hanle’s jet. Alvord is on track to attend flight school in about a month.
Other planned activities include the display of several military vehicles in front of Vanderbilt Stadium prior to the game.
"Our military is very important to Vanderbilt. This is the least that we can do to show our gratitude toward them for what they have done for our nation," Vanderbilt Chancellor Gordon Gee said.
Media contact: Princine Lewis, (615) 322-NEWS princine.l.lewis@vanderbilt.edu