A&M-KINGSVILLE ROTC CADETS TO PRESENT COLORS AT DALLAS COWBOYS FOOTBALL GAME

(KINGSVILLE, November 22, 1996) -- With deliberate and precise cadenced steps, four uniformed Texas A&M University-Kingsville Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) cadets -- one bearing the American flag and another the Texas state flag -- will march into Texas Stadium in Irving on Monday, Nov. 18.

Upholding the time-honored tradition of safeguarding, caring for and displaying the nation's flag or "colors," the color guard, as the four individuals are called, will proceed to "post the colors" before a sold-out crowd of 65,000 at the Dallas Cowboys' evening football game against the Green Bay Packers.

The opportunity for the color guard to participate at the Dallas game, said Master Sgt. David Ramsey, battalion noncommissioned officer in charge, is an honor for the cadets.

"It's a great distinction to be picked for it (the game)," Ramsey said. "There are a limited number of games and a lot of colleges submit to get to do a Dallas football game. It says a lot for the cadets themselves and what people are thinking of the program down here."

Color guard cadets, under the direction of coordinator Sgt. 1st Class Bill Huffman, include Marcos Alaniz of Baldwin Park, Calif., who will be carrying the national colors; Joseph Winslow of Taft, who will carry the Texas state flag; Harrell Jonas of Kingsville and Jeff Whitlock of Corpus Christi. Mike Fisher of Pottsboro will serve as alternate and Monica Lopez of Hidalgo, cadet battalion commander, will represent the A&M-Kingsville ROTC battalion.

Competition for selection to the group was fierce, according to Ramsey. Selection from a group of 50 cadet volunteers was primarily based on participation in ROTC extracurricular functions and military expertise at presenting the flag. The last cadets to make the final cut, Ramsey said, put as much as 40 to 60 hours into preparation for the event, including training, presenting the colors at Javelina football games and preparing the equipment.

The six cadets will receive passes to watch the game after the presentation of colors and the national anthem.

The origins of the color guard go back before the Civil War, explained Capt. Arthur Medina, ROTC recruiting operations officer at A&M-Kingsville. In lieu of the national color, U.S. soldiers carried a blue silk color on which was embroidered the arms of the United States -- an American eagle bearing a shield on its breast, and holding in its talons an olive branch and arrows, signifying peace and war," Medina said, citing from a U.S. Army drill and ceremony manual.

Because of the high casualty rate among the members of the color party plus the advent of modern weapons, the practice of carrying the colors in battle was discontinued.

"Now, at any function when we present the colors, it is to honor the people who have fallen in the past and pay respects to our country," Ramsey added.

About 140 students participate in the the A&M-Kingsville ROTC program and about 38 more participate in an extension program at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.

-TAMUK-
-Mary McAdam