By Sophia Han
Troy High School, Grade 9___11/22/10 – November 11, 2010 may have been an ordinary Thursday for most students in the Fullerton Joint Union High School District, but not for Troy High School’s Naval Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (NJROTC) cadets. For two consecutive days, they have been earnestly practicing for the 23rd Annual Fullerton Veterans Day Ceremony held at Hillcrest Park. It has become a tradition for Troy to take part in this rewarding experience where veterans and citizens pay tribute to the United States military.
“I derive a lot of pride from it, especially because our unit is one of the best,” Troy’s C/CAPT Emily Suh, the first Korean female cadet captain, said. “And Vet’s Day is special because it’s a day where everyone can put their personal politics aside so we can honor veterans and I think it’s important for high school students to participate in something as such.”
“Because of this special event, I will never look at Veteran’s Day the way I had before,” Catherine Ha, a freshman cadet at Troy, said. “Veteran’s Day is much more than red, white, and blue. It’s a day worth celebrating for!”
Joined by other high school ROTC units, Troy marched down the streets of downtown Fullerton. In addition, 50 cadets were chosen to participate in the 50 State Color Guard Team. These cadets sacrificed their afternoons to practice their routines.
As well as being a ceremony, the Veterans Day Ceremony is also a competition between schools. La Habra, Sonora, Fullerton Union High School, and Troy competed for the Outstanding Unit Award, which is awarded to the school with the best marching presentation. With more than 250 cadets under her command, C/CAPT Suh did her best to march them to victory. Despite this effort, the award was given to Fullerton Union High School Army JROTC.
For future Veteran’s Day competitions, Suh encourages her successors to “be proud and perform well. It’s a very important day for those who serve.”
