Thank you for your service

The clock on the scoreboard read five minutes until kickoff. Suddenly, the center of Buddy Echols Field was draped in broad stripes and bright stars. In front of a huge American flag, the Coppell Fire Department honor guard stood at attention.

During Coppell High School’s football game against Allen last friday, Military representatives and community veterans were honored for service to their country during Military Appreciation Night.

“This is my first high school game I’ve been to since I came to Dallas from El Paso,” U.S. Army Captain Robert Bright said. “It’s desert [in El Paso], there’s not a lot there. It’s a hardcore place for training for the army.”

Before becoming a military recruiter in Lewisville, Bright spent almost five years serving as a Black Hawk helicopter Crew Chief.

“I fixed them, I crewed on them, and I was in the DUSTOFF (Dedicated Unhesitating Service To Our Fighting Forces) – what’s called the medevac – where we’d go and pick up sick and injured people,” Bright said. “That was primarily my job.”

Bright’s days would usually start out similar to the last, but often end in a completely different state.

“We’d wake up in the morning and do physical fitness and training,” Bright said. “Then we’d go do maintenance for half the day, and then we’d get the opportunity to go to California for training or fly an aircraft up to New York. I got to travel a lot, it was an absolute blast.”

Being recognized on the football field was an honor for Bright, but it was clear that being back in a football stadium stirred up different kinds of emotions for him as well.

“I couldn’t imagine a better setting,” Bright said. “I love watching high school bands because I was in the band myself. It’s weird to be on the track watching this from a distance because it’s like ‘ah, I used to do that.’”

Bright’s friend and fellow Lewisville Army recruiter, Captain Alex Torres, also felt some nostalgia upon visiting the high school, but his feelings were due instead to a career path he almost took.

“I love what I am doing right now, because before I came in the Army I was going to become a teacher, but I wasn’t able to finish,” Torres said.

Before becoming a recruiter, Torres was an Army IT-Technician, a job he wishes he had started sooner.

“I enlisted in the Army a little late, when I was 32 years [old],” Torres said. “One of the things that I regret is not doing it earlier.”

Torres has two kids, a middle schooler and freshman, and for him, being at the game was also a chance to experience what growing up in a big town is like through their eyes.

“It’s an honor to be here supporting [the Cowboys], it’s an honor to be in the same environment, not only for my country, but for my kids too,” Torres said. “It’s another culture [here]. I was born and raised in Puerto Rico, it was a different place and a different time to, but I’ve never been in a huge school like this before.”

There were other military family members in attendance also. When the game ended and the crowd headed out of the stands to the exit, a handful of football player friends and family went the opposite way. CHS senior defensive back Cahlyl Rossin, who’s dad is in the navy and stationed in Daegu, South Korea, joined the crowd on the field with his mom and friends.

“Before the game I thought about him, because he’s been supporting me, calling me every week, every other day, making sure that I’m OK, [and that I’m] going to practice and everything,” Rossin said.

Military Appreciation Night offered Rossin a chance to share his admiration for his father’s service with the entire stadium – an experience he won’t soon forget.
“I felt honored,” Rossin said. “Most people take it for granted, but me, living in a military lifestyle, it actually means something to me.”

@mearaannee