Military Families in Tampa Bay Honored During Annual NFL Salute to Service Game By the NFL, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Schwarzkopf Family and the USO

Often when you see a military member in uniform, you’ll see people stop to thank them for their service, for their sacrifice, in keeping our country safe. What you don’t always see, is people stopping to thank the families of these brave men and women.

That’s why each year the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in conjunction with the Schwarzkopf family and USO Central Florida work together to recognize these local military families through the General H. Norman Schwarzkopf Military Families of the Year Award. The award, which is named after the late General Norman Schwarzkopf and his family, recently honored and celebrated six military families living in the Tampa, Fla., area during the Buccaneer’s recent Salute to Service game, Sunday Nov. 12.

“The USO is extremely grateful for our partnership with the NFL, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Schwarzkopf family for celebrating our local military community here in the Tampa area during Sunday’s Salute to Service Game and every home game,” said Annamae Kacsandi, Center Operations and Programs Manager, who oversees USO’s operations in Tampa and Orlando. “The USO, NFL and Tampa Bay Buccaneers brings service members and their families together through their shared love of football and provides opportunities for those serving to connect with one another around this tradition of sport and entertainment.“

Salute to Service is the NFL’s year-round commitment to Honor, Empower, and Connect with our nation’s service members, veterans, and their families.

Through the NFL’s Salute to Service campaign, together the NFL, USO and local football teams like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and other partners shows its gratitude for the service and sacrifice of our military through partnerships, grants, and recognition of service members, veterans, and their families.

More specifically, every year a family from each branch of the military: Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and now Space Force are chosen as a family who has best demonstrated the values of integrity, courage, commitment and service before self, while sharing in the sacrifices of service to our country.

One of those families awarded this year was the family of U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jonne Cadua, who is currently serving at the Administrative Chief for the 45th Security Forces Squadron, at Patrick Air Force Base.

Filipino born and raised on the island of Saipan, Jonne enlisted out of the island of Guam in 2015. Saipan is also where he meet his wife Nathally, who is also born and raised in there, and they are both first-generation immigrants in their family to come to the U.S., where Jonne has proudly served in the Air Force for over seven years.

Jonne and his family have overcome many hardships together, to include long deployments being away from one another, and they are active volunteers in the local community including volunteering for Lifeline missions which involved packaging and delivering 80,000 pounds of food to Haiti to families struggling with hunger and malnutrition following the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck on 14 August 2021, Christmas Supply Packing, packing 4,000 boxes of supplies in support of Samaritan’s Purse and Operation Christmas Child, held in the local Tampa area each year.

“Football is America’s sport, and to be honored here today by the USO, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the NFL and the Schwarzkopf family is a once and a lifetime opportunity,” said Jonne. “They rolled out the red carpet for us, and it makes my family and I truly feel special to be honored for our military service.”

Honorees selected for the General H. Norman Schwarzkopf Military Families of the Year Award were nominated online and selected by USO Central Florida for demonstrating the values of integrity, courage, commitment and service before self while sharing in the sacrifices for our country. This year’s award recipients exemplified dedication to their careers and communities, including volunteering within the local community and helping families in need, and providing mentorship to other military families.

“Our military families sacrifice so much during their time in the military. From missed birthdays, holidays and being separated for long periods of time during deployments – on top of other life challenges that may come their way - it really takes its toll on our military families,” said Timothy Baude, Field Programs Specialist for USO Central Florida. “Providing our military families an opportunity to attend a Bucs home game, and to watch their excitement as they root for the home team and be recognized on the Bucs’ pirate ship during the game was truly heartwarming.”

The USO has been supporting military service members and their families for over 82 years, to include the family of U.S. Navy Seal, Captain Ron Malloy who were honored during the game as well.

“We’ve encountered the USO across the continental United States as well as Hawaii, and at crucial times in our lives they’ve helped us in our time of need; for example our boys were trapped at an airport due to a blizzard and the USO made sure they had a place to sleep that night,” said Suzanne Malloy. “The USO has been true and tried for our military members in all the branches, not just the Navy. We love you guys and today was such a memorable experience for us all.”

The Buccaneers and the NFL have a long, proud history of supporting our service members who served or continue to serve our country.

The NFL has been a USO partner for more than 55 years, they help strengthen our military by using their platform to connect family, home, and country to our service members and their families no matter where they serve across the globe.