Highland High Jr ROTC

Last evening I had the privilege of presenting awards for patriotism, devotion and performance of duty and potential from the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite to two very fine High School students who are members of the Air Force Jr. ROTC at Highland High.

It was inspiring to sit there and listen to Major Andy Clark, USAF Retired - their instructor and mentor and as good an officer as I ever met - talk about these fine young men and women. The Honor Guard was as good as any I have seen, and their Pass and Review was polished and well-practiced.

But it was the young men and women that were most inspiring. They wore their uniforms with pride. They spoke with confidence. They were obviously fond of one another. They appeared to sincerely cheer for the accomplishments of their peers. They were unabashedly patriotic.

Some will go into the military as enlisted members and perhaps have an opportunity to go to college as a result. Others will go to college and go on to the military as officers. Many will do other things, but it was obvious that all of them were enriched by the experience.

And they have such promise - such potential. I hope that in all their vicissitudes of life, the challenges of every day living, they will hang on to the dreams they have today and that they will continue to place duty to something bigger, something which will outlast them, in the fore front of their lives. I hope that they will go on to do great things with their promise and potential.

My own generation was one of great promise and potential and they continue to be a huge disappointment. It seems we only know how to protest and talk. We faced the first fuel shortages of the 70s and were determined to develop sustainable fuel alternatives. We protested the large impersonal government that stepped on the little guy and were going to reform government so that every one's rights were protected and enjoyed. We protested what we saw as the rapacious nature of business and were going to balance business with the needs of people.

Well, it turns out that my generation brought you no new sustainable fuel alternatives. We have enlarged government and eroded individual freedoms! (Flown lately?) We have recently been involved in the biggest business scandals - prompting more government oversight of business than this country has ever seen. Our promise has largely been nothing but protest and talk.

So as I see these young people of promise at Highland High, I hope they will not be selfishly seduced like my generation. I hope that they will remember all they have learned in the Air Force Jr ROTC, and place Duty, Honor and Country right along with God, Family and Community and do something worthwhile with their lives.

We don't need any more overnight dot.com or real estate millionaires. And we don't need any more protesting. We need these young men and women of promise to do what we did not: shut up, prepare well, forget yourself, and make some idealistic dreams come true!