Wounded vets share the turf; Medal winners are honored at the All-American Bowl.
The U.S. Army All-American Bowl is a showcase for some of the country's most talented young football players, but the game's sponsor made sure that other uniform-clad heroes received their due.
A half-dozen Medal of Honor winners who served in either World War II or Vietnam were recognized in the Alamodome before kickoff, along with 42 soldiers who received either the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star or Purple Heart for their service in Iraq.
Spc. Joshua Miller, a 20-year-old from Erie, Penn., who won the Silver Star after rescuing his sergeant and leading other troops out of an ambush by insurgents, said he was honored to participate in the coin toss just before the start of the game.
"It's a big event. It's crazy," said Miller, who has watched the game before on TV. "But I never thought I'd be here."
Timothy Tabellija, a specialist from Auburn, Calif., was awarded the Purple Heart. A rocket-propelled grenade blasted inside his Stryker armored vehicle, leaving him with a concussion. Shrapnel also penetrated his arm.
Tabellija said he was excited to watch the game with other award-winning soldiers.
"This is awesome. You see all these soldiers from all different units and different jobs, but one way or another we all come together. You know it's the Army of one. Everybody works together. Everybody pulls their own weight. That's why the U.S. military is No. 1 in the world," he said.
Capt. Rachel Honderd won the Bronze Star for her role in leading a 25-member engineering platoon that helped clear a safe path for combat troops as they advanced through Iraq.
"While this is a big honor for me, I represent so many more soldiers - every soldier that worked with me," she said.
Staff Sgt. Ron Gallegos of Espanola, N.M., won the Purple Heart after a transport vehicle he was riding in hit a roadside bomb.
Gallegos said he tore his rotator cuff and lost much of his hearing in his right ear. Despite the injuries, he is considering volunteering to go back to Iraq as an Army civil affairs representative.
Gallegos said he especially enjoyed a dinner Friday evening at the Convention Center in which all the medal winners were honored.
"I've never been to a ceremony with all the high brass," he said.
Col. Thomas Nickerson, director of strategic outreach for the U.S. Army Accessions Command in Fort Monroe, Va., said this was the fourth such game the Army has sponsored.
"It is an opportunity for the American people to show their support for the American soldier, and it also keeps in the public's mind that we have soldiers serving on point for America all around the world," Nickerson said.
