Neshaminy honors military-bound seniors
Best friends since grade school, Neshaminy High School seniors Parker Minotti and Tyler Marks decided in middle school what they would do when they grew up.
Best friends since grade school, Neshaminy High School seniors Parker Minotti and Tyler Marks decided in middle school what they would do when they grew up.
Join the military.
The two 18-year-olds stayed true to their dream. Marks is headed to the Marines. Minotti has signed up for the Army and will enter the U.S. Military Academy at West Point after a year at the Academy's prep school.
They were among 11 Neshaminy students honored Thursday for their decision to join the military after graduation, with seven going into the Army and four into the Marines.
While many of their peers will spend the summer looking for college roommates and new comforters at Bed Bath & Beyond, these students will head to boot camp and then, some of them, to war zones.
As principal Rob McGee told them during the hour-long "commitment ceremony" attended by parents, recruiters, veterans, and politicians: "A year from now, most Neshaminy High School graduates will be considered college kids, and we'll treat them as such. . . . But a year from now, you'll be considered men of the United States Armed Services."
Neshaminy, which has sent as many as 18 students in one graduating class into the military, is one of the more receptive high schools in the Philadelphia region, according to the two recruiters, Staff Sgt. Jedidiah Koch of the Marines and Staff Sgt. Gary Paschall of the Army. They visit Neshaminy every week - Koch said he's there three or four days out of five. Not all schools allow such access."These guys are one of the largest pro-military schools" in the area, Paschall said.
The ceremony was established seven years ago. After all, McGee said, schools recognize students for many other accomplishments, so "why not recognize people for signing on the line and making a commitment to their country?"
After the school choir sang the flag-waving Lee Greenwood anthem, "Proud to Be an American," a roster of speakers told the students how proud they were of them for, as assistant principal Tom Magdelinskas said, putting "college on hold while they serve their country."
Matthew Busch, 18, of Feasterville, said he never considered college. He has talked about joining the Army since he was 11.
"I want to help people on a larger scale than I would be able to in college," said Busch, who will attend the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Monterey, Calif., to become a linguistics specialist. Although he studied French in high school, he will be assigned a language once he gets to the institute.
His parents, John and Diane Busch, said they initially thought their son's interest in the Army was a phase. But they soon realized "he was very passionate," said John Busch.
Zach Giberson, 18, on the other hand, sprang his decision on his mother, Cheryl, in October. Was she surprised? "Yes," she said, with his grandparents and siblings at her side. Is she worried? "Mostly proud."
Christopher Wojnar, 18, a soon-to-be Marine, also has wanted to be in the military for as long as he can remember. His grandfather and uncle were Marines, and "I looked up to them," he said.
He doesn't mind that most of his friends will be going to film or engineering classes by day and parties by night, while he'll be barked at round the clock by drill sergeants.
"When people talk about going to college, I know I'm joining the Marine Corps," he said, "and I'm very happy with it."
610-313-8232@Kathy_Boccella