Nicholls State’s last home game to salute fallen, wounded soldiers

The American red, white and blue colors will illuminate John L. Guidry Stadium this Saturday as Nicholls State University and Capital One Financial Corporation pay tribute to the American servicemen and women.

Capital One’s Bank Business division bought 400 Nicholls State University football tickets for those in the Tri-parish area who are serving or have served in the U.S. Armed Forces.

The tickets are free to all service members, past or present, and their families. Tickets can be obtained by calling Rusten May, NSU’s Veterans Affairs liaison, at (985) 449-7133 or visiting the University’s Veteran Liaison Council on the Nicholls campus on Nov. 8 and 9 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

The celebration coincides with Family Day at Nicholls.

All veterans in attendance will be asked to stand during a pre-game celebration at which six veterans, who have educational ties to NSU, and their families will be honored.

“We will commemorate the day by honoring three wounded veterans and three servicemen who were either killed in action or is missing in action,” May said. “All six soldiers at one time were Nicholls State students. Five of them served with the Houma National Guard’s Charlie Company, and the other serviceman was a United States Marine.”

The pre-game show begins at 1:30 p.m., followed by the game at 2 p.m. where NSU will host Texas State University. This is the last home game of the season.

This Veterans Day celebration is held in conjunction with the NCAA’s “Wounded Warrior” program, which NSU became a part of in the early part of the 2007 school session.

The campus’ Community and Social Concerns Committee is comprised of six members, which includes May. Together, they have organized the Veterans Day celebration at NSU.

“Nicholls’ special recognition ceremony may include the veterans or their families participating in a coin toss prior to a game. We just want to show our appreciation to them,” said Ken Berthelot, associate athletic director of External Relations at NSU.

Originally, Capital One purchased game-day tickets for its employees and their families for the NSU Family Day outing. “We went back to Capital One, which is a corporate sponsor of Nicholls State football, to see if they wanted to participate in the pre-Veterans Day commemoration,” Berthelot said.

When Robert Naquin, Capital One’s Tri-parish area president and head of the Business Banking division, found out that NSU was planning a Veterans Day celebration, he decided that this would be a great way for the company to show its appreciation to the men and women who have served the country.

“We want to honor the dedication and courage of our veterans and their families,” Naquin explained. “This is an opportunity for us to pay tribute to their efforts and show our appreciation and continued support of Veterans Day and every day.”