thedrifter
09-25-07, 07:30 AM
Wave of thanks
By Rosalie Currier
Sturgis Journal
MENDON - The rising sun had just cleared the roof of Mendon Jr/Sr. High School Monday morning as two Marines marched through the school doors towards the assembled student body at the flag pole.
Marines Dean Cugliotta and T. J. Jorgensen, both Mendon alumni, presented an American flag to principal Jay Peterson.
Jorgensen dedicated the flag in honor of the faculty and staff of Mendon High School. The flag had flown over his base at Camp Fallujah, Iraq on July 4.
The flag was raised as the band played the national anthem.
Peterson was impressed with how the two men honored their school in this way.
A lot of things must go through their minds when they are in Iraq, he said, but to think of their high school "shows the dedication of this staff for the students."
Teachers Bob Sedam and Leasa Griffith spoke about Cugliotta, a 2003 graduate and Jorgensen, a 2005 graduate.
The two cousins liked to have a good time and weren't overly worried about school success, Sedam said. But at some point, a light went on.
Cugliotta said that when he graduated, he wasn't ready for college, so he headed for the military.
He signed up at age 17 and chose the Marines because, "I wanted to be the biggest and the best."
After seeing his cousin's success, Jorgensen followed in Cugliotta's footsteps.
Once in Iraq, after surviving 13 weeks of boot camp, both remember looking at their past and wondering how they got where they were.
Certainly their parents were a major influence, they said, but Jorgensen realized his teachers were, too.
"I wanted to say thank you for what you've done," Jorgensen told the faculty and staff Monday.
In 2004, Cugliotta earned a purple heart. It was 3 a.m., he said, when they were ambushed by two men. Several Marines traveling with Cugliotta were killed. He injured his and was airlifted out of Iraq.
Cugliotta remembers looking down as he was flown away, thinking about how he was getting to leave while several of his companions were dead.
"I just have to pick up where they left off," he said.
Having completed four years of active duty, with two tours in Iraq, Cugliotta is now starting four years of inactive duty and could be called up at any time.
He thinks often about those who died in combat.
"Not a day goes by that I don't think about one of them," he said.
Ellie
By Rosalie Currier
Sturgis Journal
MENDON - The rising sun had just cleared the roof of Mendon Jr/Sr. High School Monday morning as two Marines marched through the school doors towards the assembled student body at the flag pole.
Marines Dean Cugliotta and T. J. Jorgensen, both Mendon alumni, presented an American flag to principal Jay Peterson.
Jorgensen dedicated the flag in honor of the faculty and staff of Mendon High School. The flag had flown over his base at Camp Fallujah, Iraq on July 4.
The flag was raised as the band played the national anthem.
Peterson was impressed with how the two men honored their school in this way.
A lot of things must go through their minds when they are in Iraq, he said, but to think of their high school "shows the dedication of this staff for the students."
Teachers Bob Sedam and Leasa Griffith spoke about Cugliotta, a 2003 graduate and Jorgensen, a 2005 graduate.
The two cousins liked to have a good time and weren't overly worried about school success, Sedam said. But at some point, a light went on.
Cugliotta said that when he graduated, he wasn't ready for college, so he headed for the military.
He signed up at age 17 and chose the Marines because, "I wanted to be the biggest and the best."
After seeing his cousin's success, Jorgensen followed in Cugliotta's footsteps.
Once in Iraq, after surviving 13 weeks of boot camp, both remember looking at their past and wondering how they got where they were.
Certainly their parents were a major influence, they said, but Jorgensen realized his teachers were, too.
"I wanted to say thank you for what you've done," Jorgensen told the faculty and staff Monday.
In 2004, Cugliotta earned a purple heart. It was 3 a.m., he said, when they were ambushed by two men. Several Marines traveling with Cugliotta were killed. He injured his and was airlifted out of Iraq.
Cugliotta remembers looking down as he was flown away, thinking about how he was getting to leave while several of his companions were dead.
"I just have to pick up where they left off," he said.
Having completed four years of active duty, with two tours in Iraq, Cugliotta is now starting four years of inactive duty and could be called up at any time.
He thinks often about those who died in combat.
"Not a day goes by that I don't think about one of them," he said.
Ellie