thedrifter
05-27-04, 12:01 PM
Earning rank in trying times
42 Navy, Marine officers commissioned at USD
By Michael Stetz
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
May 25, 2004
The military was on display yesterday. The renowned one. The noble one. The one boasting smart, driven, dedicated young people who excel and achieve and ache for challenge.
The Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps held its annual spring commissioning ceremony at the University of San Diego and it produced snapshots that were starkly different from those that have stained the reputation of the U.S. military in recent weeks:
The soldier holding an Iraqi man by a leash.
The soldier grinning over a pile of naked Iraqis.
The soldier holding a snarling dog inches from a prisoner.
Yesterday, 42 new Navy and Marine officers in dress uniform stood in matched rows. When they marched, they did so perfectly, smartly.
Family members beamed, cheered and took countless photographs, the kind that won't make it to "60 Minutes II" or Internet circles but will be cherished for years.
The young officers have earned their new rank at a dramatic and trying time. There is war. And there is controversy.
After Iraqi detainees were abused at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, some outraged U.S. leaders openly wondered: So this is our military? These are our young people?
The new officers are at a loss, too.
"I was shocked," said David Chin, who was promoted to second lieutenant in the Marine Corps. "We have a class in ethics. And you're taught not to bring yourself to the level of your enemies."
Chin, whose parents immigrated to the United States from the Philippines, is a native of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. As a boy, he remembers seeing U.S. troops helping after Hurricane Hugo hit the islands. That's when he first thought of serving.
"It got to me," he said.
He was all smiles yesterday. People rushed up to salute him, including tough-looking Marine sergeants who could have been in boot camp when he was in grade school.
The new officers came from such places as San Diego; Houston; New York Mills, Minn.; Cottage Grove, Ore.; and Janesville, Wis.
They were of Latino, Vietnamese, Japanese, black, Irish and Italian heritage.
In college their majors ran from accounting to theology, from electrical engineering to women's studies.
The ROTC program is one of several ways in which future military leaders are groomed. This program is located at USD and San Diego State University. Other local colleges also are involved.
Some of the newly commissioned officers came straight from high school to the ROTC. In exchange for college scholarships, students commit to serving at least three years of active duty.
Some joined after enlisting and serving in traditional military units. After ROTC, they will go off to assignments or additional military training. Some will learn to fly jets. Some will serve on Navy ships. Others will learn to lead young people in battle.
Julie Sullivan, 26, came to campus with military experience, so she knows more of this life than what she learned in the classroom. She knows the pain war can deliver. She knows fellow Marines who have died in Iraq.
"It made it real," she said.
Sullivan grew up in Wagarville, Ala. Concerned that the small town offered her few opportunities, she joined the Marines. Her first job was in ordnance, but she's not certain what her initial duty as an officer will be. She has been ordered to report to Quantico, Va., for additional training.
She thinks of war because, in reality, how can one not? It's on TV, the radio, the Internet. Newspapers' front pages are crammed with it.
"I think about it all the time," Sullivan said. "I'm not scared. I expected it, but I'm not looking forward to it."
Anvy Nguyen has been touched by war, too. His family fled Vietnam in 1978, when Anvy was 10 days old. Today, at 26, he is a Navy ensign headed for flight school.
Go back seven years and he was on the streets of Corona, closing in on trouble. He knew he had to straighten up, so he joined the Navy.
"It was an opportunity to turn my life around," he said.
He blocks out the thought of war. Those decisions are made by elected leaders, he said.
His mother, Tuyen, who fled Vietnam when she was 30, worries dearly about her son. But she believes his job is a necessary one.
"This is my second country," she said. "We have to protect our freedom."
Nguyen and others receiving commissions said they won't let the war or the controversy at Abu Ghraib derail their optimism or their beliefs. The abuse was an aberration, and those responsible need to pay, they said.
"Yes, it hurt," said Andrea Newhouse, 21, a new Marine second lieutenant. Raised in Plano, Texas, she wanted to be a Marine since sixth grade, when she was captivated by the discipline Marines display.
The uniform is sacred, she said, wearing one that was crisp and spotless. Those who abused the prisoners did the military shame.
"You put on that uniform," she said, "and you represent America."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Stetz: (619) 542-4570; michael.stetz@uniontrib.com
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040525/images/2004-05-25nrotc.jpg
RONI GALGANO / Union-Tribune
Julie Sullivan (right) and other new Marine officers got their commissions yesterday from the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps at the University of San Diego. Many said they wouldn't let the inmate abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq derail their optimism or beliefs.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20040525-9999-1m25nrotc.html
Ellie
42 Navy, Marine officers commissioned at USD
By Michael Stetz
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
May 25, 2004
The military was on display yesterday. The renowned one. The noble one. The one boasting smart, driven, dedicated young people who excel and achieve and ache for challenge.
The Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps held its annual spring commissioning ceremony at the University of San Diego and it produced snapshots that were starkly different from those that have stained the reputation of the U.S. military in recent weeks:
The soldier holding an Iraqi man by a leash.
The soldier grinning over a pile of naked Iraqis.
The soldier holding a snarling dog inches from a prisoner.
Yesterday, 42 new Navy and Marine officers in dress uniform stood in matched rows. When they marched, they did so perfectly, smartly.
Family members beamed, cheered and took countless photographs, the kind that won't make it to "60 Minutes II" or Internet circles but will be cherished for years.
The young officers have earned their new rank at a dramatic and trying time. There is war. And there is controversy.
After Iraqi detainees were abused at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, some outraged U.S. leaders openly wondered: So this is our military? These are our young people?
The new officers are at a loss, too.
"I was shocked," said David Chin, who was promoted to second lieutenant in the Marine Corps. "We have a class in ethics. And you're taught not to bring yourself to the level of your enemies."
Chin, whose parents immigrated to the United States from the Philippines, is a native of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. As a boy, he remembers seeing U.S. troops helping after Hurricane Hugo hit the islands. That's when he first thought of serving.
"It got to me," he said.
He was all smiles yesterday. People rushed up to salute him, including tough-looking Marine sergeants who could have been in boot camp when he was in grade school.
The new officers came from such places as San Diego; Houston; New York Mills, Minn.; Cottage Grove, Ore.; and Janesville, Wis.
They were of Latino, Vietnamese, Japanese, black, Irish and Italian heritage.
In college their majors ran from accounting to theology, from electrical engineering to women's studies.
The ROTC program is one of several ways in which future military leaders are groomed. This program is located at USD and San Diego State University. Other local colleges also are involved.
Some of the newly commissioned officers came straight from high school to the ROTC. In exchange for college scholarships, students commit to serving at least three years of active duty.
Some joined after enlisting and serving in traditional military units. After ROTC, they will go off to assignments or additional military training. Some will learn to fly jets. Some will serve on Navy ships. Others will learn to lead young people in battle.
Julie Sullivan, 26, came to campus with military experience, so she knows more of this life than what she learned in the classroom. She knows the pain war can deliver. She knows fellow Marines who have died in Iraq.
"It made it real," she said.
Sullivan grew up in Wagarville, Ala. Concerned that the small town offered her few opportunities, she joined the Marines. Her first job was in ordnance, but she's not certain what her initial duty as an officer will be. She has been ordered to report to Quantico, Va., for additional training.
She thinks of war because, in reality, how can one not? It's on TV, the radio, the Internet. Newspapers' front pages are crammed with it.
"I think about it all the time," Sullivan said. "I'm not scared. I expected it, but I'm not looking forward to it."
Anvy Nguyen has been touched by war, too. His family fled Vietnam in 1978, when Anvy was 10 days old. Today, at 26, he is a Navy ensign headed for flight school.
Go back seven years and he was on the streets of Corona, closing in on trouble. He knew he had to straighten up, so he joined the Navy.
"It was an opportunity to turn my life around," he said.
He blocks out the thought of war. Those decisions are made by elected leaders, he said.
His mother, Tuyen, who fled Vietnam when she was 30, worries dearly about her son. But she believes his job is a necessary one.
"This is my second country," she said. "We have to protect our freedom."
Nguyen and others receiving commissions said they won't let the war or the controversy at Abu Ghraib derail their optimism or their beliefs. The abuse was an aberration, and those responsible need to pay, they said.
"Yes, it hurt," said Andrea Newhouse, 21, a new Marine second lieutenant. Raised in Plano, Texas, she wanted to be a Marine since sixth grade, when she was captivated by the discipline Marines display.
The uniform is sacred, she said, wearing one that was crisp and spotless. Those who abused the prisoners did the military shame.
"You put on that uniform," she said, "and you represent America."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Stetz: (619) 542-4570; michael.stetz@uniontrib.com
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040525/images/2004-05-25nrotc.jpg
RONI GALGANO / Union-Tribune
Julie Sullivan (right) and other new Marine officers got their commissions yesterday from the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps at the University of San Diego. Many said they wouldn't let the inmate abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq derail their optimism or beliefs.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20040525-9999-1m25nrotc.html
Ellie