thedrifter
09-24-07, 02:38 PM
From Iraq to Mendon, a tribute to upbringing
Monday, September 24, 2007
By Julie Mack
jmack@kalamazoogazette.com 388-8578
MENDON -- Dean Cugliotta and Thomas Jorgensen were known more for their fun-loving ways than their love of academics during their years at Mendon High School.
But the cousins say Mendon teachers laid the groundwork for the two to enlist in the U.S. Marines -- first Cugliotta after his graduation in 2003 and then Jorgensen after he graduated in '05.
``These are our roots,'' Cpl. Cugliotta said.
This morning, the two were back at Mendon in uniform to present a flag in honor of the high school students and staff and flown over Lance Cpl. Jorgensen's base in Fallujah, Iraq.
The Mendon student body gathered around the school flagpole as Jorgensen handed the flag to Principal Jay Peterson, who raised the stars and stripes up the flagpole.
``To have two students come back and talk about the effect the staff had on them -- you can't measure that,'' Peterson said after the ceremony.
Jorgensen said he obtained the flag through a program in which Marines can buy a flag and have it dedicated to the person or institution of their choosing. This particular flag was dedicated to the high school and flown over the Fallujah base on July 4.
Jorgensen is home after a tour of duty in Iraq and expects to return to Iraq next summer. Cugliotta served two tours in Iraq, both in Ramadi, and received a Purple Heart for wounds suffered in a 2004 attack on a military vehicle that killed one Marine. Cugliotta's recovery took nine months.
Cugliotta has completed his four-year stint with the Marines and is planning to enroll in Western Michigan University's nursing program in January.
``Going to the Marines was the best thing I've ever done in my life,'' Cugliotta said. ``You talk about work ethic -- you're staying up for 12 days straight and getting shot at. That's work ethic.''
Ellie
Monday, September 24, 2007
By Julie Mack
jmack@kalamazoogazette.com 388-8578
MENDON -- Dean Cugliotta and Thomas Jorgensen were known more for their fun-loving ways than their love of academics during their years at Mendon High School.
But the cousins say Mendon teachers laid the groundwork for the two to enlist in the U.S. Marines -- first Cugliotta after his graduation in 2003 and then Jorgensen after he graduated in '05.
``These are our roots,'' Cpl. Cugliotta said.
This morning, the two were back at Mendon in uniform to present a flag in honor of the high school students and staff and flown over Lance Cpl. Jorgensen's base in Fallujah, Iraq.
The Mendon student body gathered around the school flagpole as Jorgensen handed the flag to Principal Jay Peterson, who raised the stars and stripes up the flagpole.
``To have two students come back and talk about the effect the staff had on them -- you can't measure that,'' Peterson said after the ceremony.
Jorgensen said he obtained the flag through a program in which Marines can buy a flag and have it dedicated to the person or institution of their choosing. This particular flag was dedicated to the high school and flown over the Fallujah base on July 4.
Jorgensen is home after a tour of duty in Iraq and expects to return to Iraq next summer. Cugliotta served two tours in Iraq, both in Ramadi, and received a Purple Heart for wounds suffered in a 2004 attack on a military vehicle that killed one Marine. Cugliotta's recovery took nine months.
Cugliotta has completed his four-year stint with the Marines and is planning to enroll in Western Michigan University's nursing program in January.
``Going to the Marines was the best thing I've ever done in my life,'' Cugliotta said. ``You talk about work ethic -- you're staying up for 12 days straight and getting shot at. That's work ethic.''
Ellie