Mother Of CU's King To Be Honored At Veterans Day Halftime Ceremony

BOULDER — In her nearly 25 years in the Air Force, Senior Master Sgt. Tresse King has received a number of promotions and commendations.

She has not, however, ever had the opportunity to have both of her children present at one of the ceremonies. For a variety of reasons (often basketball), either her daughter, Jecia Anderson, or her son, George King, has not been able to attend.

Friday night that will all change. Both Jecia and George — now a starter for the Colorado men's basketball team — will be in attendance when King is promoted to chief master sergeant at halftime of the CU season opener against Sacramento State at the Coors Events Center (7 p.m. tipoff).

"I told George, 'This is it. It's the last time. I need you and your sister to be here,'" Tresse King said recently.

It's exactly what will happen, as both George and Jecia will be there to pin the stripes on her uniform.

But it took some work.

King originally planned to have the promotion ceremony where she is currently stationed. But complications quickly arose.

"George told me, 'Mom, if I miss practice I can't play,'" Tresse recalled. "And I knew that getting George to miss a game wasn't going to happen. That would be like pulling two teeth without Novocain."

Then, one of Tresse's co-workers suggested looking into the possibility of having the ceremony in Boulder. That way, George could be there and his sister, a former college player at Wingate University, could also attend.

Tresse called the CU basketball offices to see if such an event would be possible. CU officials quickly began working out the details and told her she could have the ceremony at halftime at the Buffs' season opener on Veterans Day.

'I've always had one of the kids or the other, but I've never had both of them there at the same time for any of the ceremonies I've had," Tresse said. "Either Jecia was playing ball somewhere or George was playing ball somewhere. This will be the first time. It couldn't have worked out better."

There were a few other issues to address. Military procedure also requires an officer be present at such a ceremony.

As it turns out, that's no problem. U.S. Army Col. Angela Fortune also happens to be the mother of CU senior Josh Fortune. She agreed to be part of the ceremony, as did U.S. Army Sgt. First Class Eddie Gordon, father of CU's Wesley Gordon.

"She (Fortune) said she would fly out, which is wonderful," Tresse King said. "We've met previously, and for her to take the time to come here is great. I'm excited that she and Wesley's dad are going to be part of the ceremony. As they say it's all one team, one fight."

Late December will mark Tresse King's 25th year in the Air Force. She has been deployed seven times, most often to the Middle East, and actually was going into Kuwait on one of those deployments just as Angela Fortune was returning home.

"Small world," Tresse said. "It's amazing how all these things happen."

For George, it will be an event he won't forget.

"It's a really special moment," George said. "The time frame — Veterans Day, in front of my teammates, my sister being here, friends and family — it's a big deal. I'm also not the only military brat on the team, so that makes it pretty neat."

The promotion for Tresse King is actually an "out of cycle" promotion. Her records were backlogged approximately two years ago and the promotion should have occurred then.

But now, the Air Force is correcting the mistake, and she will be one of just 3,000 (out of 300,000) to hold the rank.

As it turns out, the timing couldn't be better.

"I'm humbled," Tresse King said. "I'm humbled to have this opportunity to do what people have done for me the last 25 years. I've always had people who treated me well and taken care of me; now it's my turn to help take care of people. My kids will be there and it will be on Veterans Day at one of George's basketball games.

"I couldn't have asked for a better way for it to happen."

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu