Local Veteran Honored at UW Football Game Recognizes Service

Ross Byrd, a military veteran who also served with the Laramie Fire Department and supported University of Wyoming athletic events, will be honored as AARP Wyoming’s Hero of the Game during the UW Cowboys football game on November 22 in Laramie. The recognition, announced on November 12, will include complimentary tickets for Byrd and his family, parking passes, a pregame dinner, and a field recognition during the game.

Byrd’s record of deployments and years of community service formed the basis for the selection, and local organizers and AARP representatives framed the honor as part of a broader effort to celebrate volunteers and veterans whose work sustains Albany County. The recognition comes at a time when communities across Wyoming are spotlighting first responders and military families for their civic contributions and the personal sacrifices that accompany that work.

For local residents, the event represents more than ceremonial recognition. Honoring a local veteran at a widely attended university athletic event brings public attention to the roles veterans and volunteer emergency personnel play in everyday community life. The game setting provides a visible platform to acknowledge continuity of service from military duty to local emergency response and volunteer engagement, and it may help connect community members with veteran supports and local volunteer opportunities.

From a public health perspective, celebrating service members and firefighters in this way can have practical implications. Recognition events can boost morale among current personnel and volunteers, highlight the need for mental health and transition supports for veterans, and remind local leaders to prioritize resources that sustain emergency capacity. In Albany County, where volunteer fire and emergency services play an outsize role in rural response, such acknowledgments can reinforce recruitment and retention efforts, and underscore gaps that community organizations and policymakers may need to address.

The AARP program also touches on social equity by centering those whose service is often performed without wide public notice. By inviting Byrd and his family to the game and offering public recognition, organizers aimed to make visible contributions that are central to community safety and cohesion but are not always compensated or widely known.

The Nov. 22 game in Laramie will offer a public moment to salute Byrd and to encourage broader community reflection on support systems for veterans and volunteers. Organizers said the combination of on field recognition and family inclusion is intended to honor individual service while reinforcing community commitments to care for those who serve.