Duty, Honor, Country Await RHS Seniors Entering the Military

Duty, Honor, Country. 

Those were popular words on Wednesday as recognized thirty seniors who will be serving their country in the military upon graduation. This is the third year the school has held the popular recognition ceremony.

A standing-room only crowd of parents, friends, teachers, state legislators, city officials and military representatives were on hand at the RHS Student Center to witness the students take an honorary oath and explain in their own words what drew them to pursue post-graduation service to their country.

“I want to be a part of something bigger than myself,” said Bryce Wilberding who was one of only 1,200 applicants from a pool of approximately 20,000 to be invited to West Point Military Academy. 

Wilberding said he was looking forward to “great life experiences” and would pursue explosive ordnance disposal in the military.

Military pursuits among the RHS students were diverse and interests ranged from aviation technology, military police, medical officer, missile technician, infantry and more.

But a common thread of duty, honor, country and service ran through all of the recognized students who stood, one by one, and told their story with pride.

“I wanted to do something that would allow me to better myself and help other people,” said Dustin Lucket who is joining the National Guard.

“I want to serve my country and make my parents proud and my friends proud,” said Tyler Merritt who leaves in two weeks to pursue aviation operations in the Marines.

Dylan Deherder is also set to join the Marines, something that will fulfill a long-held dream.

“I’ve wanted to join ever since I was little,” said Deherder who said he was also influenced by stories a former teacher used to tell of his experiences in the military.

Many, like Tyler Cox and Anna Adrian, said they joined the Army and Navy respectively to follow in their family’s footsteps.

Russell Freels comes from a military family and will be attending the University of St. Thomas while serving in the Air Force ROTC.

“It will help me get a good college education and I’ll be able to follow in the footsteps of my family, too,” said Freels.

Continuing post-secondary education was also a common theme with many students obtaining complete college educations in addition to the life experiences they will encounter.

“This is a very special group of students that have committed to serving their country,” said RHS Principal John Wollersheim. “I admire all of you and wish you the very best.”

Lt. Col. Mark Weber, a Rosemount resident with a distinguished military career spanning more than 20 years and currently with the National Guard, was a motivating guest speaker.

“There’s nothing more inspirational for me than to see this,” he told the students. “You’re joining the armed forces at a time of war. And that’s amazing. Whether you end up in combat or not, you’ve volunteered to put yourself potentially in that circumstance. The most dangerous type of circumstances you can possibly end up in. And that means a lot.”

Weber relayed some of his notable experiences and what a career of military service has meant to him, and said the students can look forward to many challenges and greater rewards, at times light-heartedly cajoling the non-Army branches to respond with a “hooah” under threat of push-ups.

But even though his delivery included some humorous inter-branch ribs, his message was universal, serious and sincere.

“Your feet will never be more firmly planted on the ground than they are right now,” he said and urged them to keep that perspective as they face the challenges in front of them.

“Duty, Honor, Country...they’re important words,” Weber added. “But they can be a little heavy to bear at times and they don’t always get you through the difficult days. But what will get you through the day, is realizing that you’re doing things for the people right around you...the human spirit in us has us doing things for each other and I’ve heard you say you all want to do something bigger for your fellow man or fellow woman. Hold on to that.”

Seniors honored and their branches of service included:

Navy: London Hubbard, Tim Sampers, Emma Murray, Anna Adrian, Casey Dantzscher

Army: Jon Wiley, John McCarthy, Tyler Cox, Louis Anderson, Logan Micke

Air Force: Doug Ragone, Ryan Vick, Nick Gould

Marines: Sgt. Joshual Dreveling, Pat Massey, Jake Rutoski, Joe Heumoller, TJ Merritt, Dylan Deherder, Brady Hase

National Guard: Sgt. Jason Podritz, Matt Jensen, John Chun, Dustin Lucket, Dominic Peterson

ROTC: Tyler Liermann, ROTC Air Force, UMD; Gunnar Vraa, ROTC Army National Guard, Gustavus; Brad Jackson,  ROTC Navy, UW Madison; Emma Thompson, ROTC Navy, Marquette; Russell Freels, ROTC Air Force, St. Thomas

Service Academy: Bryce Wilberding, West Point; Adam Jackson, Air Force Academy; Stephen Sawyer, U.S. Naval Academy