The University of Phoenix scored a touchdown with Iraq war veterans, giving eight coveted tickets to Sunday's Super Bowl XLII to a group of wounded service members, MyFOXPhoenix.com reports.

"Being part of it — it’ll be nice," veteran Brent Bretz told MyFOXPhoenix.com.

Bretz has undergone 57 surgeries, and his recovery from his war wounds is still not complete. He returned from Iraq in 2005, as did Robert Bartlett, another ticket recipient, who said he was "pretty surprised" by the gift. "It’s the chance of a lifetime," Bartlett told the TV station.

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Young Marines rally around Iraq veteran J. CRAIG ANDERSON, TRIBUNE

The members of Apache Bravo Young Marines know true courage doesn’t always reveal itself in a flash of selfless impulse.

Often it emerges gradually, as you set out day after day to achieve what others say is impossible because you believe it’s the right thing to do.

That’s the lesson wounded Iraq war veteran Brent Bretz taught the Young Marines, and they have learned it well. The military-minded East Valley youths displayed that sort of courage through their efforts to honor the former U.S. Army sniper in a most unusual way.

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By Samantha L. Quigley American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28, 2007 – For injured servicemembers, the transition between hospital and hometown can be a rough one. Kathy Pearce is working to make that transition a little smoother in Arizona’s Sun Valley with monthly "Hometown Heroes Dinners." The dinners give still-recovering service members a chance to get together with others in the area who have shared similar experiences.

"What I was finding is that once they get back home...there is such a loss of that camaraderie once they’re not with their unit or they're not in a rehab center," said Kathy Pearce, a Military Severely Injured Center advocate for support in Arizona.

It wasn’t Pearce’s role as an advocate that opened her eyes to this issue. It was her role as a military mom.

Her son, Army Staff Sgt. Brent Bretz, suffered severe injuries in December 2004 while serving in Iraq. Pearce spent months with him as he recovered. During this time, she observed the bond Bretz formed with his fellow patients over shared experiences. “I thought we needed to do something to bring them all together (again),” she said. “That’s when I started looking for somebody that would do dinners.”

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Thousands of American Service Members are trying to adjust to a new way of life, after being severely injured in Iraq or Afghanistan. A program called Heroes to Hometowns aims to make that transition easier.

The Department of Defense program establishes a support network and coordinates resources for severely injured service members returning home. Kathy Pearce, Advocate for the Support of Military Severely Injured Residing in Arizona, says not only are these men and women dealing with the challenges of their physical injuries, but also the psychological challenges of being out in public in crowded areas, and with the feeling that no one understands what they are going through.

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May 25, 2007 - Brent Bretz is unsure of his plans for Memorial Day weekend, but he knows it will involve standing on two legs, something he hasn't been able to do for two years. "It's been a slow recovery process," said Bretz, an Army soldier who has endured 57 surgeries since a makeshift bomb tore through the 5-ton supply truck he was driving in Iraq in December 2004. "I waited a long time just to stand up again." ~ Venus Lee - azcentral.com

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