Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
“It almost brought tears to my eyes” — MTSU helmet stripe honoring veterans hits home years later
11/10/2022 4:46:00 PM | Football
Former BRAA President Brian Hercules shares his nephew’s story ahead of this year’s Salute to Veterans Game
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Brian Hercules was a little confused when he saw the notification on his calendar to meet Mary Esther Reed and Chris Massaro for lunch the next day.
It wasn't a total shock to Hercules, who as the town manager for Smyrna, where Reed is the Mayor, often had to meet with her over lunch for meetings. Add in the fact that Hercules was a former president of the Blue Raider Athletic Association (BRAA), and the inclusion of MTSU's Athletic Director in the meeting wasn't all that unusual either. Hercules figured there was an event to set up in Smyrna later that Reed and Massaro needed his help on.
It wasn't until the Athletic Director walked in carrying an MTSU football helmet the next day at the Town Center in Smyrna with a Stars & Stripes stripe down the middle that Hercules put together there might be a bigger surprise for him than just the lunch.
"It didn't even dawn on me what it was," Hercules said. "The mayor has a box with her family at the football stadium. So, I figured it was a gift for the box."
After Massaro told him to take a closer look at the helmet, however, Hercules quickly was taken back to a moment, months before, where Reed had caught a glimpse of the very same helmet stripe and sent him a picture. The stripe, made for the Salute to Veterans game in 2019, featured the names of fallen veterans from the Volunteer State weaved into its design. Reed, spotting a name on the edge, thought she recognized someone.
She took a picture of the name and sent it to Hercules.
"Do you know this person?" Reed asked.
Hercules opened the picture, seeing the name "Russell Hercules Jr.," and was taken aback.
"Yes," he replied, "that's my nephew."
SPC Russell Hercules Jr. served in the U.S. Army after graduating from Blackman High School in 2006, a lifelong dream for the son of two veterans, Brian Hercules said. He was a part of the Pathfinder Company in the 101st Airborne Division and served in both Iraq and Afghanistan as part of the War on Terror.
On October 1, 2009, SPC Hercules was shot by small arms fire from insurgents while deployed to Afghanistan and died from his wounds. Hercules, a Bronze Star and Purple Heart winner, was just 22 years old.
"He was just a great young man, always intrigued with military, strategic thinking kinds of things," Brian Hercules said of his nephew. "He loved it, he loved the whole aura of the military way of life."
His nephew's death dealt a hole to his entire family, Hercules said. SPC Hercules left behind two children, one of whom he never had the chance to meet. His father, Russell Sr., was so proud of everything his son did with the Army.
But now over a decade later, that sense of loss is also met with an immense sense of pride for Brian.
"It's one of those things, missing someone that's in your family, that's tough," Hercules said. "But there was a certain sense of pride I think for his father and for me knowing that he was doing what he wanted to do.
"He wanted to be a part of the military. He wanted to be a part of the War on Terrorism. While we have a hole for the loss and sorrow for the loss, we have a certain amount of pride too. I think that was what was emotional for me was the pride."
Hercules thinks he was likely at the game that the Blue Raiders wore those helmets with his nephew's name on the stripe. But now, years after that game and months after Reed's text to him, Massaro had brought him one of those helmets as a gift.
"It almost brought tears to my eye," Hercules said.
It moved Larry Maples, MTSU's Associate AD for Equipment and Capital Projects, all these years later as well. Maples said the stripe in 2019 came from a wide variety of ideas they tested, but including fallen veterans from Tennessee on the stripe made for one of the best designs not only visually, but also in meaning, honoring soldiers that paid the ultimate price.
"It just makes you realize why you do what you do from the beginning," Maples said. "We were memorializing and recognizing these guys for a reason. We did this years ago, but it's actually coming around and hitting home. It means something to somebody living today."
Maples staff was hard at work this week finalizing this year's Salute to Veterans helmet for this Saturday's game against Charlotte. With the success of last year's stripes, which honor each of the service branches in the U.S. Military by assigning different position groups on MTSU's team to each branch, Maples and his staff, led by GAs Jordan Middleton and Patrick Woods, wanted to take that design and iterate off of it.
"We sat down and said 'What we did last year was great. How can we tie it back to the individual player a little bit more to give them a bit more a buy in?'" Maples said.
What the group came up with, in addition to the unique stripes, was including the individual player's area code on the right side of the helmet in place of the usual Patriotic MT logo that is used almost every year for the Salute to Veterans game (and remains on the left side of the helmet this year). That required over 44 different stickers to be ordered, one for each area code, with 615 earning the most representatives at 15.
SPC Hercules' branch will be represented once again on the offensive line, who wears stripes for the Army. But for his uncle Brian, the 2019 helmet Massaro gifted him, as well as the second helmet Massaro passed along for Russell Sr., SPC Hercules' father, was just another reminder of the many ways people around the country continue to honor his sacrifice.
"I was probably at that game with his name on the helmet and had no idea," Hercules said. "Unbeknownst, how people that are still showing respect. It means a lot to the family."
It wasn't a total shock to Hercules, who as the town manager for Smyrna, where Reed is the Mayor, often had to meet with her over lunch for meetings. Add in the fact that Hercules was a former president of the Blue Raider Athletic Association (BRAA), and the inclusion of MTSU's Athletic Director in the meeting wasn't all that unusual either. Hercules figured there was an event to set up in Smyrna later that Reed and Massaro needed his help on.
It wasn't until the Athletic Director walked in carrying an MTSU football helmet the next day at the Town Center in Smyrna with a Stars & Stripes stripe down the middle that Hercules put together there might be a bigger surprise for him than just the lunch.
"It didn't even dawn on me what it was," Hercules said. "The mayor has a box with her family at the football stadium. So, I figured it was a gift for the box."
After Massaro told him to take a closer look at the helmet, however, Hercules quickly was taken back to a moment, months before, where Reed had caught a glimpse of the very same helmet stripe and sent him a picture. The stripe, made for the Salute to Veterans game in 2019, featured the names of fallen veterans from the Volunteer State weaved into its design. Reed, spotting a name on the edge, thought she recognized someone.
She took a picture of the name and sent it to Hercules.
"Do you know this person?" Reed asked.
Hercules opened the picture, seeing the name "Russell Hercules Jr.," and was taken aback.
"Yes," he replied, "that's my nephew."
SPC Russell Hercules Jr. served in the U.S. Army after graduating from Blackman High School in 2006, a lifelong dream for the son of two veterans, Brian Hercules said. He was a part of the Pathfinder Company in the 101st Airborne Division and served in both Iraq and Afghanistan as part of the War on Terror.
On October 1, 2009, SPC Hercules was shot by small arms fire from insurgents while deployed to Afghanistan and died from his wounds. Hercules, a Bronze Star and Purple Heart winner, was just 22 years old.
"He was just a great young man, always intrigued with military, strategic thinking kinds of things," Brian Hercules said of his nephew. "He loved it, he loved the whole aura of the military way of life."
His nephew's death dealt a hole to his entire family, Hercules said. SPC Hercules left behind two children, one of whom he never had the chance to meet. His father, Russell Sr., was so proud of everything his son did with the Army.
But now over a decade later, that sense of loss is also met with an immense sense of pride for Brian.
"It's one of those things, missing someone that's in your family, that's tough," Hercules said. "But there was a certain sense of pride I think for his father and for me knowing that he was doing what he wanted to do.
"He wanted to be a part of the military. He wanted to be a part of the War on Terrorism. While we have a hole for the loss and sorrow for the loss, we have a certain amount of pride too. I think that was what was emotional for me was the pride."
Hercules thinks he was likely at the game that the Blue Raiders wore those helmets with his nephew's name on the stripe. But now, years after that game and months after Reed's text to him, Massaro had brought him one of those helmets as a gift.
"It almost brought tears to my eye," Hercules said.
It moved Larry Maples, MTSU's Associate AD for Equipment and Capital Projects, all these years later as well. Maples said the stripe in 2019 came from a wide variety of ideas they tested, but including fallen veterans from Tennessee on the stripe made for one of the best designs not only visually, but also in meaning, honoring soldiers that paid the ultimate price.
"It just makes you realize why you do what you do from the beginning," Maples said. "We were memorializing and recognizing these guys for a reason. We did this years ago, but it's actually coming around and hitting home. It means something to somebody living today."
Maples staff was hard at work this week finalizing this year's Salute to Veterans helmet for this Saturday's game against Charlotte. With the success of last year's stripes, which honor each of the service branches in the U.S. Military by assigning different position groups on MTSU's team to each branch, Maples and his staff, led by GAs Jordan Middleton and Patrick Woods, wanted to take that design and iterate off of it.
"We sat down and said 'What we did last year was great. How can we tie it back to the individual player a little bit more to give them a bit more a buy in?'" Maples said.
What the group came up with, in addition to the unique stripes, was including the individual player's area code on the right side of the helmet in place of the usual Patriotic MT logo that is used almost every year for the Salute to Veterans game (and remains on the left side of the helmet this year). That required over 44 different stickers to be ordered, one for each area code, with 615 earning the most representatives at 15.
SPC Hercules' branch will be represented once again on the offensive line, who wears stripes for the Army. But for his uncle Brian, the 2019 helmet Massaro gifted him, as well as the second helmet Massaro passed along for Russell Sr., SPC Hercules' father, was just another reminder of the many ways people around the country continue to honor his sacrifice.
"I was probably at that game with his name on the helmet and had no idea," Hercules said. "Unbeknownst, how people that are still showing respect. It means a lot to the family."
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