Tag Archives: ROTC

national news

This story just keeps getting better

Consider this item to be the “gift that keeps on giving.”

It involves a teenage girl from Mississippi and a U.S. Air Force pararescue jumper who became acquainted at a time of intense national tragedy: Hurricane Katrina.

LaShay Brown was struggling to escape Katrina’s wrath in New Orleans in September 2005. Airman Michael Maroney rescued her from the torrent. The picture of them embracing after the rescue went viral.

They reconnected a decade or so later. They have remained BFFs ever since that reunion.

LaShay is now 14 years of age; Maroney is set to retire from the Air Force. But they have a date to keep. LaShay has invited the man who saved her life to her junior ROTC ball in Waveland, Miss., where she now lives with her family.

Maroney says LaShay saved his life too. Her embrace of him that day meant the world to the young airman.

https://highplainsblogger.com/2015/09/emergencies-often-build-lifetime-friendships/

The above link is of a blog I posted in 2015 of the two getting reconnected. It warmed my heart then to read of the initial rescue and of Maroney’s efforts to catch up with the little girl he pulled from Katrina’s wrath.

The idea that he now would be the girl’s “date” at an ROTC ball warms my ticker even more.

“I am proud of her no matter what she does and will support her in everything she does,” Maroney says. “I think she understands service and I believe that she will do great things no matter what she chooses.”

Hearing of this upcoming event makes my day.

military news, national news, political news

One more point about Dr. Carson and West Point …

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west point 2

The Internet didn’t exist in 1969 when Dr. Ben Carson reportedly had discussions with someone about whether he should get a “scholarship” to enroll at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.

As I have always understood it, enrollment at any of the service academies requires a nomination from the applicant’s congressman or woman, or a senator from the individual’s home state.

The issue, then, has continued to swirl over whether Carson, a leading Republican presidential candidate, actually was offered a “scholarship” to West Point. He says a lot of things about it. Critics say he’s being — at minimum — disingenuous.

I found a website that lays out how one does it now.

Here is the link

It still involves submitting an application and a nomination from a member of the House of Representatives or a U.S. senator. The applicant also must score high enough on SAT and ACT tests to quality. Media outlets have reported that Carson never submitted an application to West Point.

Dr. Carson was living in Detroit at the time. He was active in the junior ROTC program at Southwestern High School, achieving the highest ROTC cadet ranking possible.

Did that get the attention of someone in Congress from the Detroit area, or from his home state of Michigan, to nominate young Ben for admission to West Point … and is there a record of it — anywhere?

Hey, I’m just trying to do my small part to help clean up this mess.

I’m out.