Cadets Guard Memorial

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By: Debra Hawkins in The Utah Statesman, April 9, 2008, Section: Campus News

 

A memorial in honor of all American prisoners of war and those men who have gone missing in action was set up in the middle of the Quad Tuesday [April 8, 2008], to be guarded continuously by ROTC cadets for 24 straight hours.

 

USU was once one of the leaders in drill and ceremonies, so much so that according to a press release put out by the USU Air Force ROTC, it was known as the "West Point of the West." USU used to be a part of Pershing Rifles, which is a type of extracurricular, social program in the Air Force ROTC, said Dan Sheets, Pershing Rifles Company commander. Some time ago, for some reason, the school just stopped being a part of it, which is something Sheets said a group of nine cadets are striving to change. Before the cadets can report to the National Society of Pershing Rifles to see if they will be allowed a charter to have the society at the school, they must complete a capstone event like guarding a memorial, he said.

 

"We decided on this event because we have focused on the presentation of the colors and spinning rifles in our training," Sheets said. "What we are doing is very similar to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier."

 

Sheets said another reason this particular event was decided on as the group's capstone was to help raise awareness on campus of POWs and men that went MIA.

 

"There are people that never returned home from wars past and present, and we don't know what happened to them," Sheets said. "We want to raise awareness, particularly on campus, about that."

 

The respect the cadets have been receiving from students has been pretty high, said Jessica Mays, a Pershing Rifles cadet.

 

"For the most part the students will stop and look around and be quiet and respectful," Mays said. "There are some students who are on cell phones that have walked right through our guard."

 

The memorial will be guarded by two soldiers at a time for the 24 hours ending today [April 9] at noon, Mays said. “The memorial will be guarded in one hour shifts with Cadets changing their shifts "every hour on the hour."

 

With only nine members of the group so far, Mays said each cadet has about five shifts of guard during the 24-hour period.

 

"It will be a cold night, but it is a great thing we are doing," Mays said. "Doing this for 24 hours is a demonstration of our dedication to it and the prisoners of war."