A surgical stapling apparatus, comprising a housing a handle supported by the housing an elongated body extending distally from the housing a tool assembly at the distal end of the elongated body, the tool assembly having a cartridge assembly including a staple cartridge having a plurality of surgical fasteners therein, and an anvil assembly, at least one of the cartridge assembly and anvil assembly being movable in relation to the other of the cartridge assembly and anvil assembly a surgical buttress releasably secured to a tissue contacting surface of at least one of the anvil plate and the staple cartridge by an anchor, at least one of the anvil assembly and the cartridge assembly includes constricting, open-ended, slots configured to grip an end of the anchor the surgical buttress including a tab extending from a distal edge thereof to facilitate attachment of the surgical buttress during assembly a release assembly associated with the at least one of the anvil assembly and the cartridge assembly and a drive assembly slidably translatable through the tool assembly from a proximal position to a distal position, the drive assembly actuating the release assembly to push the end of the anchor out of the slot and to free the surgical buttress from the at least one of the anvil assembly and cartridge assembly.
