In honor of veterans around the world, Saturday’s military appreciation men’s basketball game held several festivities to recognize wounded servicemen and women.

The game consisted of many soldiers, from cadets to veterans, who relaxed and were honored while watching Saluki basketball.

The event started when university Reserve Officers’ Training Corps cadet Allison Lampe, a junior studying photojournalism from Polo, sang the national anthem. She said she told her sergeant she was interested in singing, her lifelong hobby, at the game.

“I had a video from a previous event I did,” Lampe said. “They took a look at it and thought I was good, so they decided they would do it on the military appreciation game to honor ROTC and the military.”

During a media time out in the first half, Lampe received a two-year Guaranteed Reserve Forces Duty Scholarship of $5,000, leaving her with a total of more than $25,000 in ROTC scholarships.

“It’s going to be an immense help to me… one of the reasons I did choose ROTC was there are so many benefits to it, as a college kid I get to know that I’m going to get out of college and have money saved up,” she said.

Earlier this week, two other ROTC cadets were awarded scholarships, while Tori Briggs, a junior from Sheridan, Wyo., studying biomedical science, received a two-and-a-half-year Federal Scholarship, added to a total of almost $20,000 in ROTC scholarships. Otis Woods, a junior from Chicago studying radiology, received a three-year Federal Scholarship with a total of more than $38,000 ROTC scholarships.

“It’s definitely a stress relief off my parents too, you know,” Briggs said. “I don’t have to worry about tuition and have somewhere to live and have to pay for that.”

Lt. Col. Jon Sowards said the scholarships are extremely competitive and are awarded based on grades, physical ability and cadet’s level of participation and commitment in the program. The application’s minimum criteria are a 2.5 GPA, an ACT score of 19, and cadets must meet minimum height and weight requirements for the Army.

“It’s for those students that are fully engaged in our program, which is a leadership program, in class, at lab, they’re doing physical fitness in the mornings, they’re coming out and doing extra curricular with us like color guard or drill team,” Sowards said. “All those things accumulate and makes them competitive for scholarships.”

While cadets were celebrated at the game, so were those who have served before them.

During halftime, 12 wounded warriors and three local veterans were escorted to center court and greeted by Chancellor Rita Cheng, Athletic Director Mario Moccia and the Grassy Lake Hunting Club Owner, Gerald “Eagle” Cain.

Sgt. Michael Madden said veterans are able to come to events such as this weekend’s through the Healing Outside of a Hospital Program, which is an organization that provides activities for injured veterans.

“Wounded warriors either get connected with services that help them outside the Army if they need to leave the Army, or they go through and they get the healing that they need and they get back to active duty,” Madden said.

Sgt. Eric Lieber said his group of servicemen at the game is a part of a physical therapy group located in Fort Campbell, Ky.

“Basically what we do is we have soldiers from the WTU (Warrior Transition Units) who are all wounded warriors,” he said. “Basically what it does is it gets them out, it gets them not thinking about their injuries and gives them something to do.”

This weekend’s events for the veterans consisted of not only the basketball game, but also the fifth annual Grassy Lake Hunting Club duck hunt.

Gerald Cain’s son, Colin Cain, Grassy Lake Hunting Club co-owner said they hold a duck hunt for those wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq every year. The hunt was on Friday, where the 18 veterans shot and killed 151 ducks.

“It was the best day we’ve ever had…” Cain said. “Kindest group we have ever served, I mean they just thank you and thank you and they’re just so appreciative of everything. It makes you want to cry because the fact that what they’ve done for us has made our life better and we’re just showing them a good time for one day.”

Cadet Operations Sergeant Major and SIU basketball player Colby Long said he is grateful for all the men and women who have served, and events such as a basketball game are great ways to keep the mind off physical and mental troubles.

“When you’re at a game you’re in the moment and you’re not thinking about any of your problems you might have,” Long said. “To get caught up in the atmosphere of a game, I think it could be helpful for any kind of issues (veterans) might be dealing with from the war.”

Lieber said while it was a great weekend of hunting and watching the game, the best thing someone can do for a veteran is to simply thank him or her for his or her services.