thedrifter
10-19-07, 11:22 AM
Military promotion well worth fighting for
Tribune Editorial
Combat is hell, and the Apache Bravo Young Marines have learned that through their relationship with the severely wounded Army Staff Sgt. Brent Bretz and his family.
But fighting for what one believes in also creates heroes, and the Young Marines can count themselves among them. This band of East Valley youths successfully lobbied the Pentagon for an unprecedented promotion for then-Sgt. Bretz, who was due for one when he lost both legs and partial use of one arm and one ear to a remote-controlled bomb in December 2004.
“He said, ‘I’d like to retire as a staff sergeant, but that’s not going to happen now,’” Young Marines Commander Gary Boland told the Tribune’s Craig Anderson. “So our staff got together and said, ‘Why don’t we make it happen?’”
The Young Marines, ages 8 through 16, collected more than 5,000 signatures during the summer of 2006 to support the cause of a “veteran” who at 25 scarcely looks older than they are, and presented them to the Pentagon the same day Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced his resignation.
Word of the effort proceeded the papers’ arrival, and though the promotion was submerged in six further months of red tape, the brass’ resolve to finish what the Young Marines had started never faded, and Bretz learned he’d gotten it at the same time he was released from the Army last June.
The actions of the Young Marines speak for themselves, as does Bretz’ perseverance through his pain and his dedication to helping other wounded warriors through his Salute a Soldier Foundation.
They come from a generation which is facing more adversity than perhaps any since the “greatest generation” produced by the Depression and World War II; long-running conflicts with distant, elusive enemies, constant and dire predictions about the Earth they’ll inherit, financial turmoil that’s shaking the foundations of the American Dream and its future in a globalized, computerized economy.
Adversity draws people together and pushes them to new heights, which is one of the few good things about war. We can only hope there are more young men and women out there who can rise to the challenge.
Ellie
Tribune Editorial
Combat is hell, and the Apache Bravo Young Marines have learned that through their relationship with the severely wounded Army Staff Sgt. Brent Bretz and his family.
But fighting for what one believes in also creates heroes, and the Young Marines can count themselves among them. This band of East Valley youths successfully lobbied the Pentagon for an unprecedented promotion for then-Sgt. Bretz, who was due for one when he lost both legs and partial use of one arm and one ear to a remote-controlled bomb in December 2004.
“He said, ‘I’d like to retire as a staff sergeant, but that’s not going to happen now,’” Young Marines Commander Gary Boland told the Tribune’s Craig Anderson. “So our staff got together and said, ‘Why don’t we make it happen?’”
The Young Marines, ages 8 through 16, collected more than 5,000 signatures during the summer of 2006 to support the cause of a “veteran” who at 25 scarcely looks older than they are, and presented them to the Pentagon the same day Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced his resignation.
Word of the effort proceeded the papers’ arrival, and though the promotion was submerged in six further months of red tape, the brass’ resolve to finish what the Young Marines had started never faded, and Bretz learned he’d gotten it at the same time he was released from the Army last June.
The actions of the Young Marines speak for themselves, as does Bretz’ perseverance through his pain and his dedication to helping other wounded warriors through his Salute a Soldier Foundation.
They come from a generation which is facing more adversity than perhaps any since the “greatest generation” produced by the Depression and World War II; long-running conflicts with distant, elusive enemies, constant and dire predictions about the Earth they’ll inherit, financial turmoil that’s shaking the foundations of the American Dream and its future in a globalized, computerized economy.
Adversity draws people together and pushes them to new heights, which is one of the few good things about war. We can only hope there are more young men and women out there who can rise to the challenge.
Ellie