General,
Firstly the quote above is seconded by many in this thread and as a serving soldier myself, it fills me with great gratitude that Mr Lerner has taken time out to visit 'our' troops.
This brings me on to my second point, and I apologize if it sounds like begging...
As I have already mentioned, I am a serving soldier myself, having done 2 six month tours of Afghanistan and 1 in Iraq.
A lot of big companies offer discounts and concessions to Armed Forces personnel, many of these are listed in the Armed Forces Discount Brochure, I know speaking to some of our american soldiers that they are very well looked after in the sporting market in the USA regarding discounts.
I get to as many Villa matches as feasibly possible and when it doesn't conflict with my duties. Do you know if the club will be offering any discounts on ticket prices/merchandise etc etc?
Finally, I am currently heavily involved with arranging a charity football auction in aid of Help for Heroes. I wrote to ALL clubs within the football league kindly requesting club memorabilia (signed items/shirts/balls/pennants etc) which would be auctioned with all proceeds being split between Help for Heroes and the Army Benevolent Fund. I was very disappointed that my own club, whom I have supported for the past 37 years, through thick and thin, were not willing to offer anything and didn't even reply to my letter, whilst 75% of other clubs did.
I hope you are fully recovered and look forward to hearing your thoughts on my points above.