it was great to be back in the Swamp last Saturday night. I had the honor of having a surprise seat mate as I settled in joining the usual folks around us. United States Army Staff Sargent Mark S was in the seat next to us. His wife had purchased the ticket for him as a fathers day present and it was his first time seeing his Gators play since he went to New Orleans with 52-20 and a Championship. The 20 year enlistee is a paralegal in the Army JAG and has seen the world. I wish I could put together words to describe the smile on his face when he sat down Saturday night! He was child like and his emotions kind of bubbled up on him a bit when SOS took the field. We chatted and I learned he will retire in December and he hopes to see the Gators more often if he can find  money for tickets. I'm the inquisitive sort and pryed out of him that he has been ill... a small skin melanoma spread to his body and he has been fighting brain cancer. He had successful surgery at Moffat, has been assigned to McDill till he retires and understand he may be the benificary of a "Hometown Hero" home in north Alachua county. He is fightinging the fight and had to go puke his guts out in the middle of the first quarter, but he wasn't going anywhwere as he was going to see his Gators all the way through. I'll tell you this... his joy of being there was every bit of deep as I have ever seen when we swayed to We Are The Boys...

Anyway, I'd love to see this guy be able to see more of his beloved Gators at games in the Swamp. He said he's sit anywhere in the stadium. So here is the request... should you have an extra ticket you may need to eat or don't want to hassle with a sale... send me a mud mail and I'll send you his full name and email and maybe you can make an Army guy really really happy.