AARP Wyoming Joins University of Wyoming in Honor Veterans During Military Day

AARP Wyoming will honor veterans and provide free tickets to the state’s veterans as a part of the University of Wyoming’s Military Day festivities on Saturday, September 28 in Laramie.

Saturday’s Military Day game, which kicks off at 6 p.m., honors those individuals who serve, or have served our country as members of the United States Armed Forces. AARP Wyoming and the University of Wyoming will honor Torrington’s Bill Marsh as it’s “Hero of The Game,” before the contest. Marsh will be recognized on the field before the game and receive a seat upgrade.

Marsh served as a member of the United States Marine Corp from 1953-56 and is a veteran of the Korean War, where he was a machine gunner, rising to the rank of Sergeant. Thirty days after returning to the states from Korea, Marsh married his wife Janice. The Marsh family has two children, Michael of Washington, DC, and Jeffery, who currently sits on the Board of Trustees at the University of Wyoming and lives in Goshen County.

Marsh moved to Wyoming in 1959 after graduating from Chadron State College, and would later earn a Master's Degree from Ohio University in Counseling before completing coursework on a PhD. in adult education from the University of Wyoming. Marsh was a teacher and coach in Goshen and Lincoln County before beginning a 25-year career at Eastern Wyoming College in Torrington, where he would retire as Dean of Students at the school.

Marsh was the volunteer state president at AARP Wyoming from 2002-08. Since then, he has remained active in AARP Wyoming and his community. Marsh was the inspiration behind AARP Wyoming’s Senior High Tech program in which AARP Wyoming brings students from local high school service organizations together with local senior centers for one-on-one technology tutoring on smart phones and other devices. He is also active in his local Rotary club, which has a heavy focus on helping Goshen County to become more “dementia friendly.”

In addition to honoring Marsh, AARP Wyoming will provide 50 tickets to the Seats for Soldiers program as a part of its sponsorship of Military Day. The ticket purchase by AARP Wyoming has been matched by the University of Wyoming, which is working in collaboration with VetTix to distribute the tickets to veterans of the state.

AARP Wyoming will also host a booth inside the Indoor Practice Facility, which will be manned by Army Veteran Clarence Montano and his wife, offering information on AARP’s veterans outreach, as well as information on Medicare and social security.

Veterans Outreach is a priority to AARP in Wyoming and nationally as AARP counts over four million members - or 10 percent of AARP’s membership as military veterans. AARP has made resources for veterans available and easy to access on its website: aarp.org/veterans.

For more information, contact Tanya Johnson, AARP Wyoming’s Associate State Director, for Outreach and Local Advocacy at tajohnson@aarp.org.

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