Our Community Salutes

0:00 for helping us celebrate this wonderful occasion during our nation's 250th birthday. I'm Ron Powers, I'm chair of the CMAAC organization, Community Military Appreciation Committee, and I'm serving as tonight's Master of Ceremonies. OCS, our community salutes, began as a national program in 2009 to recognize and honor our high school seniors and their families who entered into the military after high school graduation. The Northwest first event was held as a cooperative effort to honor and recognize young adults choosing to join the 1% of Americans who served in the U.S. Armed Forces.

0:57 This very first event, CMAAC, Community Military Appreciation Committee, has proudly assumed local responsibility for the national OCS organization to annually coordinate each event at local high schools. And again, as I mentioned, this is our 15th OCS event. Each year, we have students representing schools from Southwest Washington and the Portland metro area. We really want to thank Skyview High School for hosting tonight's event in this wonderful auditorium. And currently, I am going to call for the presentation of our new recruits. So please welcome our honorees tonight.

1:53 Ladies and gentlemen, the United States Military Academy, West Point. The United States Naval Academy, Annapolis.

2:40 Ladies and gentlemen, the United States Naval Academy, West Point.

3:33 The United States Army. Ladies and gentlemen, the United States Naval Academy, West Point.

4:25 The United States Marine Corps. Ladies and gentlemen, the United States Marine Corps.

5:06 Ladies and gentlemen, the United States Navy.

5:58 Ladies and gentlemen, the United States Air Force.

7:01 The United States Coast Guard. Ladies and gentlemen, the United States Air Force. Ladies and gentlemen, your new recruits. You may be seated for a second because we're going to bring up the Honor Guard.

7:57 And so for the Honor Guard, we're going to have the Battleground High School Air Force Junior ROTC Honor Guard. So again, if you're physically able, please stand up as the Honor Guard presents the colors. Battleground High School Air Force Junior ROTC Honor Guard post colors. [applause]

8:49 [inaudible]

9:51 For your information, we are going to keep the colors up here after the ceremony so you could take pictures. Please remain standing for a national anthem. Tonight, we are pleased to have a representative of Skyview High School, Cora Philipson to sing for us. Cora is a senior. She's been in the choir for four years, and she has been selected for the Vancouver Honors Choir for three of these years. She has also participated in a solo ensemble. And the beautiful thing about this, this is her second time singing the national anthem for the OCS event. Please welcome Cora Philipson to the stage.

10:33 Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming, Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting

11:31 in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there; Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet yet wave, O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? Thank you, Cora. That was a beautiful rendition. We appreciate it. Now I'd like to ask the Reverend Donnell Singleton. He is the chaplain for CMAQ to offer an invocation.

12:29 He's also a retired submariner, as tall as he is. Can you imagine that? Thank you. And he's currently the pastor of the Redeeming Church. Pastor Singleton. Thank you, sir. Praise the Lord. Now, I need to tell you something right now, so I'm going to be honest with you. I'm a Baptist minister. I'm going to say Jesus a lot. Now, if you don't believe in Jesus, you say who you believe when I say Jesus, okay? All right. Come on, pray with me, church. Father, as we come to you this evening, Lord, we're just asking you to bless us, Lord. As these young people decide to step out of darkness into the marvelous light and they want to make some changes in their lives, Father, we're just thanking you for that. Oh, Lord Jesus, we pray that you build a hedge around them, protect them as they make this journey. Allow them to understand that we have their back, that each and every step they take we're

13:26 taking it with them, that we're going to be with them through every struggle, every advancement, and we're going to love them the same time. So help us, Father, in the name of Jesus that you will bless them and their parents, Father, because I know what it's like to be sitting at home waiting for their phone call to tell me it's all right. So with all these things, Lord, I just ask that you be with them. All these things we ask in Jesus' name, for in Jesus' name we pray. And the church said, "Amen." Amen. And amen. Thank you, Reverend Singleton. Please be seated. And I'm going to introduce some of the people that are on stage. And first of all, as you can imagine, a lot of work went into this. We've been doing it, as I said, 15 years, and each year we continually find a way to make it happen.

14:26 And it's really -- it took a village and quite a group of people. I'd like to introduce some of the people on stage. At my right, your far left, we have Mr. Mike Burton. Mike Burton, former co-chair of CMAQ, he will be helping to line up the enlistees as you come forward. Next, we have retired Major General Buck Marr. Few things about him. He served 32 years in the Air Force, piloting a wide range of aircraft and commanding strategic airlift forces in Europe during Operation Joint Endeavor in Bosnia. Also, you may not know this, for those who may think you need Buck, know Buck, but he was air commando in Vietnam. He flew a gunship, and he was in 171 combat missions.

15:19 Next to Buck -- okay, yeah, let's see. Next to Buck, we have retired Major General Kurt Loop. He served 37 years. He retired as deputy commanding general of the U.S. Army Pacific. He also served as commanding general of the 104th Division at Vancouver Barracks. One of the things that Buck had done, he also served in Vietnam. He was on two tours in Vietnam and worked his way up to a major general, so really like to give a big thanks to Lieutenant Kurt Loop. Next, as you heard a few minutes ago, Reverend Donnell Singleton, so thank you so much, and

16:16 then we have the honorable -- our wonderful honorable Anne McInerney-Ogle. She's been a huge participant, and I'll be introducing her in a few minutes. We also -- oh, oh, I'm sorry, Larry, okay. There's Larry. Yeah, okay. Actually, Larry -- I feel embarrassed to say this because Larry's my main mentor, so for me to not see him hidden behind Donnell, so Larry -- but you won't believe the sacrifice that Larry has done for CMAQ. He helped found CMAQ. He's been a director for well over a decade, and I have some mighty big shoes to follow, Larry, but he's done such an amazing job. In addition, Larry was also a platoon leader in Vietnam as well as other things, so let's give a good warm welcome to Larry.

17:15 As I said a second ago, we're very blessed to have our honorable Mayor Anne McInerney-Ogle tonight. She's done a very good job in representing CMAQ as well as being the mayor of Vancouver. She has definitely participated in many of her events, and in case you don't know it, her husband Terry is also a Vietnam veteran. And we're going to have our main speaker come up in a few minutes, but Tyler Venari just got out of the U.S. Army, and you're going to appreciate what he has to say. Next, we have Intern Superintendent Brett Blacksmith. He's going to be the Intern Superintendent for the Vancouver School District for a year. We also have Ray Reynolds. He's going to be singing for us a little later, and he's the voice of Vancouver. Also, next to Buck, we have Harry Humison.

18:12 Harry is a World War II veteran. If you get the opportunity afterwards, feel free to talk to Terry. He had definitely mentioned about the podcasts that he does and the amazing stories that he has. Next to Harry, we have a Korean War veteran, Mr. Jim Moody, and they're going to be helping also with the program tonight. Cora Philipson had to leave, she had to attend another event, but she did a wonderful job in doing our national anthem. We also have some unsung dignitaries with us. We have the Lewis and Clark Young Marines that has helped pass out the programs. We have Mr. Steven Stanley, who has been with us consistently with the flag ceremonies that

19:10 we have, and I'd also like to mention, when I said it took a village to put this together, we have Mr. Dan Seichel, he's our event manager for tonight's program, as well as our operations manager for CMAQ. Dan, will you please stand? I saw him a minute ago. But definitely, when you get it afterwards, thank Dan for putting this together. He did a very incredible job. We also have the disabled veterans at Clark College are here tonight. They helped with the greeting, and they will be outside helping greet in a few minutes after the program. Also we've had the Patriot Guard Riders of Southwest Washington who helped welcome you as they came in.

20:06 But I want to do a very special shout-out to Will Johnson. I'm not sure if he's here tonight, but we worked with him for the past several years. He is the event coordinator manager at Skyview High School. He's been doing the job for eight years, and he's been doing an amazing job for us. As we get kick-started, our very first speaker tonight is a very honorable U.S. Congresswoman Marie Gazenkamp-Perez, she is not here with us in body, but she's definitely here with us in spirit. And also, we have a representative, Toni Sprague, who is with us tonight. And Toni, would you like to stand up? This is Toni. He's representing our wonderful Congresswoman, and she's going to be doing a special welcome via video.

21:00 Hi, I'm Congresswoman Marie Gazenkamp-Perez, and I'm so sorry I can't be there with you today. I'm out in D.C., but I didn't want to miss the chance to say something directly to the young people in this room who are about to put on a uniform. What you're choosing to do is huge. You're stepping up and saying that you're willing to put yourself between whatever comes next and your community. And that takes a particular kind of courage that we all have a profound respect for. And thank you. And I want you to know how encouraged we all are by your service, that your service creates an obligation, not just gratitude, but a real, lasting obligation in Congress. I fought to make sure that when you come home, the health care you were promised is actually there, that the support for families is real, and that the commitments this country made to them are kept, that work isn't finished. But I want you to go in knowing that there are people fighting hard to make sure your service is honored, not just with words, but with work.

21:59 To your families in the room, thank you. You are carrying this burden with them, and we're deeply grateful for you. And to each of you graduates, you've made your community so proud before you've even shipped out. And I cannot wait to see what you do. Godspeed and thank you. (Applause.) Thank you, Congresswoman, we appreciate it. Now I would like to introduce Brett Blechsmith. He is the intern superintendent for the Vancouver Public Schools. By the way, he is a graduate of Fort Vancouver High School and the University of Portland. He brings more than a decade of experience in school finance and district leadership to his role as interim superintendent for the 25-26 school year.

22:51 He spent 19 years at ESD 112 supporting district financial operations before serving as assistant superintendent and chief operating officer for the Vancouver Public School. Throughout his career, he has focused on building strong systems to support student success through sound fiscal management and operational excellence. Brett and his wife, Jennifer, have two adult daughters and recently welcomed their first granddaughter in November 2025. So let's hear it for Superintendent Brett Brettson. Thank you. Thank you very much. My official role here tonight is to welcome you, and I do want to sincerely say that it's a privilege for Vancouver Public Schools, and specifically Skyview High School, to host this event. I also want to use this platform briefly, and I'll try to be disciplined myself, to

23:51 express some gratitude because this is personally a very significant event for me as I see students that I helped educate throughout your time in Vancouver or whatever district that you might have graduated from. One of the things we hope for and strive for in our young students as they matriculate through our system is that they gain not only knowledge and skills, but they gain an appreciation for how they can contribute to our society and how they can invest themselves in something greater than themselves. And what you guys have demonstrated in the decisions that you've recently made is that you, and I also want to congratulate your parents and thank your parents, you've embodied one of the essential values that I think any society or any young person would want to aspire to, and that is that appreciation that there is an opportunity to enrich your life,

24:48 enhance the lives of others if you put your needs secondary to others, and the benefits that you'll receive and for a lifetime I think are going to be rich and consistent. The relationships that you have, the sense of purpose that you'll have are very unique to what you'll be able to experience through the choices that you've made. So I, again, can't offer enough gratitude for the service that you'll provide to those on the stage with me and many others in the audience that have served bravely and nobly through many, many ups and downs for our country. My life is richer for that. My life has been blessed by the freedoms and the benefits that they have toiled, risked their lives, and served nobly to protect, and I don't for one day take that for granted.

25:47 So you are in a position now as recruits to add to that legacy, add to the community that you see before you. It is a unique community, it is a distinguished community that's built on service and sacrifice, and unfortunately not many of our peers are going to benefit from those attributes and those choices that you've made. So I congratulate you, I thank you sincerely for the sacrifices, and for those in the community that are welcoming you into that community, I again offer my sincere and humble gratitude and appreciation. Thank you. Thank you, Brett Brexit. Also right now I would like to introduce our very honorable mayor of Vancouver, Ann McInerney-Ogle,

26:44 and a couple things about her that not only is she a friend of veterans, she's doing a wonderful job in representing and running our city. She has very strong leadership skills, and probably you've noticed it within the past few years. She incidentally took her oath of office to the Vancouver City Council in January 2014, a little history in the making. She became the first woman mayor of Vancouver on January 1st, 2018, where she led efforts in economic development, community relations, and transportation. She also earned her bachelor's degree from Southern Oregon State and her master's in education from Lewis and Clark College. She has also spent 30 years in Lake Oswego Public Schools teaching. Her heart for armed forces is evidenced by the faithful presence and participation in

27:43 the local events that CMAQ would do and also the other veteran organizations. And she's done a very good job in honoring the bravery and sacrifice of our active military personnel as well as veterans. As mentioned a second ago, the wife of a Vietnam veteran, Ann is personally grateful to celebrate those who have served, continue to serve, and will serve in the future. Ladies and gentlemen, our very honorable Mayor Ann McInerney-Ogle. Well, good evening and thank you so very much for being here. I had the honor of talking with Tyler a few minutes ago and he's applied for Vancouver Fire Department. Yay! Let's work on that, Tyler.

28:37 It's always an honor to stand in front of so many dedicated, selfless men and women. You've chosen a path of service and today we recognize all of you who have committed to joining the United States Armed Forces after your graduation. You heard it on the speeches, the reverend, but your presence here along with all your families and friends and educators and community leaders, you're demonstrating a deep pride and gratitude and you need to feel that from all of us. When I look at each one of you as you entered, you seem ready and willing to dedicate your lives to others and you're at such a young age. All of us are filled with hope for our community and for our country. You've chosen a very different, challenging and deeply meaningful path and you've made

29:35 the decision to maybe postpone your traditional college experience or even to pause perhaps some promising job opportunities in order to serve, protect and defend our nation both at home and abroad. Please remember when you're done with that, be like Tyler, come and work for the city of Vancouver. By choosing to serve, you're stepping into a role that requires discipline, courage and resilience. And so for the next four years or possibly many more, you'll be a part of the force that ensures the freedom that we enjoy each day. So for that, we say thank you. I also want to take a moment to recognize your families. You've heard that several times this evening. The pride that your families feel today is matched only by the strength that they will need when you deploy and train around the world.

30:34 Parents and loved ones, please know that we understand the worry that may come with this journey and we commend your bravery and support. The selflessness your children are demonstrating is a reflection of the values that you instilled in them and today we honor your sacrifice as well. As a wife of a Vietnam veteran, I am personally grateful to celebrate those who serve. To our enlistees, you're choosing to be part of something bigger than yourselves, something more significant than a club or a sorority or a fraternity or some organization. You're joining the ranks of two patriots who safeguard the future of millions. You're stepping into a legacy guided by three simple yet powerful words, duty, honor, and

31:34 country. And those are not just words, they're a way of life. They reflect service before self, respect for our nation, and the commitment to stand for others even when the future is uncertain. As a community, it's our responsibility also to live by those same principles. When we embody duty, honor, and country in our own lives, we show our appreciation for the sacrifices you're preparing to make. Freedom comes at a cost, one you're willing to bear for people you may never meet. Though you may not know most of the people in this room, here you are, ready to serve, ready to protect, ready to lead, and we owe you a debt of gratitude not only for today

32:32 but every day. As mayor, I genuinely appreciate the opportunity to personally congratulate you on your decision to serve your country. You are indeed paving a way for a safer tomorrow and ensuring that all of us may continue to pursue our dreams without fear with you. Thank you for your courage. Thank you for your commitment. And thank you for reminding us all that true service and true patriotism looks wonderful. I'm proud of each and every one of you. Remember when you're ready, the city of Vancouver is ready for you. Thank you so much. Thank you, Mayor Ann.

33:28 And now I'd like to introduce your speaker, Tyler Vineri, as Mayor Ann just mentioned, is a veteran. Just a few years ago, he was sitting where you're at, and he's just completed his, well, I want to say four years, correct, four-year service, and it's such an honor to have him. By the way, he's a graduate of Battleground High School and their Air Force Junior ROTC program, and adjusting to COVID related restrictions, Tyler took his experience and talent into the US Army, where he completed training as a combat medic. His assignments included Fort Sam Houston in Texas and a Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii. Following his enlistment, achieving the rank of Sergeant, Tyler returned to Battleground, and as previously mentioned, he's been hired by the Clark County District 3 Fire and Rescue,

34:27 where today he's a paramedic training program. Clearly dedicated to service and country and community, Tyler is going to share his life experiences and the important lessons he learned during his four-year enlistment. Let's welcome Tyler. Good evening, everyone. I just want to say, I'm still looking for a job, so if Vancouver's hiring, I'll put my application in. They are, but good evening, everyone, and thank you for joining us tonight to recognize the brave young men and women who are in front of us. It is an honor for me to stand up here tonight and give you all a little bit of advice from my experience. Like they said, my name's Tyler Venari. I was a sergeant in the United States Army. I served four years with the 25th Infantry Division out of Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. During that time, I served as a line medic with 227, which is in 3rd Brigade, and I spent

35:25 time with Charlie Company there, and I started as a platoon medic and worked my way up to being a company medic. I also got the opportunity to work at Tripler Army Medical Center for a little while, working in their emergency room as well as their operating room, and it was a great experience for me. I also got to go to the Philippines twice where I taught CLS, which is combat lifesavers to the Filipino special forces out there. Joining the Army and living the military lifestyle has taught me a lot. I learned how to be a good leader and a good follower. The experiences also taught me respect, humility, and how to be humble. These skills have translated into my civilian life as well. Like they were saying, I volunteer with Clark District 10 out in Amboy and work for North Country EMS as an ambulance driver. I'm willing to bet many of you have already received advice from different people in your

36:21 families and friends and your recruiters even for things such as before you leave, knowing to keep your head down while you're joining and to be in shape before you go to basic training, which are all great pieces of advice, but I wanted to give you guys a little bit of advice that's a little bit different that helped me a lot personally when I enlisted in the Army. The first one is take everything an hour at a time. When you leave for basic training, it's going to be a lot all at once. You're going to have your drill instructors, your drill sergeants yelling at you every second of the day, and it's going to feel like hell. You're going to get through it though. It's a lot all at once, but you will get through it. One thing that I did that helped me was breaking things up into chunks at a time. You wake up, and you know you're going to get breakfast at some point in the day, so think I'm going to make it to that breakfast, or I'm going to make it to lunch or dinner. At the end of the day, you're always allotted a little bit of time to sleep, so just make

37:20 that your goal for the time because it helps make it go by a lot easier. The second piece of advice I'd like to give is make the best out of every situation. Basic training in AIT is going to be really hard. It's a huge change in culture shock, but that training is going to set you up for later on in life. It'll teach you your discipline and respect and how to be a better person. The field problems are going to be hard. You're going to be eating MREs and rucking really far, but at the end of the day, it's just a field training problem. I like to keep the mentality. I'd always tell my soldiers where I'm from Washington state, and it rains a lot here. I was stationed in Hawaii and it doesn't rain as much, so I always told my soldiers the rain only bothers you if you let it. A lot of people didn't believe me on that, but that mentality helped make things a little bit better.

38:15 You guys are going to get great experiences like shooting M4s or M27s or M17s and throwing grenades. Those are all great things to look forward to, even on the bad days. The third piece of advice I'd like to give is take pictures and write a journal. During basic training, I wrote a journal, and that helped me a lot to keep myself grounded and know what I've been through and to look forward to what's coming next. It was a great way for me to communicate with my family after I got done to show them the things that I learned and all of those cool experiences that I got to do. A lot of my friends didn't join the Army, so they're pretty jealous I got to throw a frag grenade. I think that was pretty cool. For the taking pictures part, that's also something that's very important to myself and a lot of other veterans. A lot of my best friends I met in the military have all gone their separate ways, living in Tennessee, my best friends in Chicago, and one of the other ones is in Corpus Christi, Texas.

39:13 Those pictures are a great way for me to remember the cool experiences that we got to have together, whether it be going to the beach and partying or going on hikes or going to the Philippines and trying different cool foods that I didn't know what I was eating half the time. Those memories are going to be things that you cherish after you get out, because at the end of the day, those memories will stick with us forever. Also our branding now, and I will wish you all the best of luck, you're all joining a brotherhood and a sisterhood unlike any other. You have a great support system with your families and friends and different connections throughout the community. I'm really proud of all of you, and I look forward to see where you guys are all going in the future. Thank you so much, Tyler. Now I would like to introduce Colonel John Scott. He will collectively swear in our future service members.

40:11 Colonel Scott is the commander of the U.S. Army Portland Pacific Recruiting Battalion. The footprint of this battalion stretches all the way from the Oregon-California border north to the Yakama Indian Reservation west to the Pacific Islands, Hawaii, Japan, and South Korea. By the way, tonight the oath will be ceremonially only. Upon enlisting in the U.S. Armed Forces, each person enlisting, whether soldier, marine, sailor, airman, guardian, or coast guardsman, takes an oath of enlistment required by the federal statute. This statute provides the text of the oath and sets out who may administer the oath. The oath may be taken before the president, the vice president, the secretary of defense, any commissioned officer, or any other person designated under regulations prescribed by

41:09 the secretary of defense. Will all future service members please stand? I'm going to ask you to stay seated for just a minute here. Yeah, that's okay. I'm changing the script a little bit. I told him, but he forgot, I'll forgive him. Hey, so before we do that, because I don't like jumping right into these things, I want to give you context, and I want to thank a few people in the process. And also, I'll talk to the families a little bit, and I'll have the light guy do the spotlight on you and make you feel uncomfortable too for a second as well. But before that, I think that was so neat that Tyler got to stand up here and talk to you all, because it really is a good snapshot of what many of you are going to look like in a few years. And he happens to be an upstanding guy with good presence, which helps. I did catch the fact that he just came back from Hawaii as well, so Mary Ann, as much as I love Vancouver, Washington, that's a questionable decision, Tyler.

42:09 But hey, in reality, there's a few people, and I know in these things we tend to do a lot of recognition, but there's a few people that we didn't recognize today that we might hit later on, but I want to take a minute to thank them anyways, and that is the non-commissioned officers and the recruiters who make this all possible as well. So please, a round of applause for all of them. I can tell you that after commanding this recruiting battalion for the last two years that with the utmost certainty, that is not an easy job. You know, for many people who are back in Garrison and can do sort of a nine to five, that is non-existent for the recruiter from all the armed services as well. But to the recruits as well, I can assure you, you are about to become a better version of yourselves. That is a hundred percent the case.

43:08 Many of you are going to travel America. You're going to travel the world. You're going to learn new skill sets, and you're going to do things that you never would have imagined, hence, you know, the adventure that you're about to embark on. I would also remind you that you're going to fail, and you're going to fail a lot, and that's okay. You're going to learn from those failures, and you're going to learn something that doesn't hit some people till later on in life. You're going to learn how to recover from those failures quickly. And the interesting thing about this is, and it was interesting, he said he did four years. I'm about to hit 20 next month. And some of you who think you are going to do four years will do 20. Some of you who think you're about to do 20 years in service will do four, okay? And I was one of the former. I thought I was just going to come in and do my four years and get out. But here I am, 20 years later.

44:04 And with that part of it, you know, if I had a hundred chances to do this all over again, I would do it the same way every single time. And that's honesty, and that's been one of my favorite parts about this job, and when I get to come up here and do these oaths, because I'm speaking to you from the heart in the sense that I truly believe in the military. I truly believe in armed services, and it was one of the best decisions I ever made. And with that, I will also say to you, this battalion spanning across the Pacific, I've had the opportunity to swear in around the world. And I was in American Samoa recently, and for those of you who don't know, we put people in from Micronesia in accordance with the compacts of free association agreement. We put people in from American Samoa. We put people who are dual citizens in from Japan and Korea. And I was in Samoa, and they have this word in Samoan called tautua, and it means service.

44:59 And when we do their swear-ins, all of the young Samoans and their families in unison sing about tautua. And I tell you that because as I'm looking at all of you today, and I actually have one of my Samoan NCOs sitting right in front of me, that kind of works out well, but I tell you that because you're about to go into service next to some of these Samoan warriors. You are about to go to basic training or boot camp next to the 30-year-old expat who's coming back from Japan. You are about to go to basic training or boot camp next to your peer from high school from Alabama and Boston, and that should give you scope because you are all serving for the same purpose, and that's to deter our nation's adversaries, and when necessary, win our nation's wars. And just a couple more comments here because really I want to gear this to the families as well, and some of the speakers already did this, but I want to speak to you in particular.

45:58 You are their rocks. You are just as much a part of this journey as they are. When they are tired and hungry and training, when they are faced with complexity and uncertainty overseas, they'll have you to lean on to get through it. Even if you are not there with them in that moment, your unconditional support will be the force that carries them through. And I also want to assure you that we do have good leaders in the United States military. I've been surrounded by them for the last 20 years, so I have absolutely no doubt that they are going to take care of your loved ones, and that's my one promise to you coming out of this engagement as well. And with that, I'll give you a few seconds to get your cameras ready because we're about to hit the fun part, and so please prepare to take some pictures, videos, whatever you see fit. In a few seconds here, what I'm going to have them do, okay, is I'm going to have them stand up, and we'll do it a little different this time. I'm going to have them do an about face and face all of you, and at that point, I'm going

46:58 to have them raise their right hand, and we're going to do the oath of enlistment. So with that said, if you get your cameras ready and are ready to go through with this thing, we'll go ahead and knock it out. Yeah, absolutely. Whatever you got to do with the lights to make sure that it's focused on them and not me, that would be great. Okay, perfect. Okay, future service members, if you go ahead and stand up. Okay, do an about face, please. Okay, and if you get the hall lights on as well back there from the lighting. Okay, team, raise your right hand and repeat after me.

47:51 I state your name, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me according to regulations and the uniform code of military justice. So help me God. A round of applause for our future service members.

48:51 And as I hand it over back to the MC, there is one last thing I would like to highlight, and that's those who are going to the academies as well. They are going to be going straight into leadership positions and serving with these fine warriors and service members. So thank you for allowing me to be part of this, and it was a pleasure. Thank you, Colonel Scott. Now we're going to begin the ceremony recognizing -- oh, okay, go ahead and be seated. Thank you. But we're going to actually have you come up in a minute. But we're going to recognize you a little bit further. And we're going to have each one come up, receive a certificate signed by either the governor of Washington or Oregon. They're going to receive a challenge coin, and also a flag by one of our Korean War or World War II veterans.

49:47 And their name will be called, and we're going to ask the recruiters to announce the names as they come across. But please hold your applause until all of our honorees have come across the stage. In addition, we're going to ask elected officials that are in the room, VIP guests, and veteran group leaders currently not on stage to form a receiving line. You can follow Larry Smith right there to have a receiving line of congratulating our honorees after you have come on the stage. So friends, families, you're welcome to actually come up from your seats and take a picture as they're being honored on the stage. Feel free to take a photo. And again, at the end of each service branch recognition, feel free to applaud.

50:45 First we're going to have our three future officers from the Military Academy West Point and the U.S. Navy Academy come across. And then we'll come with the future ones. Members of the U.S. Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard. And then when all have come across the stage to receive the flags and the certificates and the challenge coins, have them go through the line here to be congratulated, and feel free to take your seat.

51:36 Do we have the three going to the academies? To the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, we have Dylan Brian Hamilton. To the Military Academy at West Point, Chase Dunn. Oh, apparently the two West Pointers were not able to make it. The other one, so that you have the name, is Jonathan Holding.

52:32 Thank you. All right, so for the Army, if you could please stand. And then make your way to the stage.

53:27 All right, first up is Benjamin Blanchfield. Kylie Clark Henderson. Hayden Ebel. Tony Ann Forbes. Angel Gallardo. Tanner Ichimura.

54:22 Justin Killman. Jayden Nazario. Hazen Negrete. Xavier Odom. Jackson Sprague. Isaiah Trout.

55:20 And then last but not least, Caleb Wilson. Hey, good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Captain McDaniel with the Marine Corps. Do we have any Marines in the crowd? Navy Corpsmen. Navy Corpsmen? Hell yeah. All right, we're going to congratulate these future Marines.

56:05 All right, we're starting with Josie Barrett. Joel Catala. Junior Cervantes. Wyatt Chapman. Marquise Calazzo.

57:04 Jonathan Dodge. Nicholas Fry. Daniel Harris. Alejandro Hurtado. Devante Kephart. Frankie Lopez.

57:59 Matthew Lowe. Edgar Martinez. Bailey Melvin. Christian Moncada. Amber Pickle. Eric Seale.

58:53 Angel Vasquez. Aidan Vega-Galvin. Joshua Webb. Last but not least, Cole Whitaker.

59:42 Zipper Fye-Dellis, and thank you. All right, good afternoon, everybody. Petty Officer Second Class Jones, proud to introduce the Future Sailors of America. First up is Paige Buechel.

1:00:26 Next, Michael Bevins. Abigail McKell.

1:01:08 George Pukashu. Horacio Ramos.

1:01:50 Evan Check. Drevin Walker.

1:02:34 Tristan Hensley. And last, but certainly not least, Skylar Leal.

1:03:24 All right, thank you all very much, and go Navy, beat Army.

1:03:54 All right, so I'm Sergeant Wright. I'm here in the Vancouver office for the Air Force. These are our future members, and I'm very proud to pronounce their names and let them walk across the stage and be recognized. All right, so we're going to start with Nathaniel Breems. Lily Quadillo. Jason Dean.

1:04:43 Layla Dorn. Kylie Erickson. Cameron Feller. Jayden Hansen. Abisai Lénez-Bintour.

1:05:35 Eric Medina Lombera. Erika Mendoza. Braden Peterson. Christopher Phillips. Kayden Schechtman.

1:06:23 Victor Garcia. Please congratulate our Air Force recruits.

1:07:08 Robert Stewart. Okay, sure. Yes, yes. Coast Guard? All right. On behalf of the Commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Kevin Lunday, we have welcome future

1:08:03 Coastie Donovan Brown. Liam Foran. Congratulations, see you at work.

1:08:56 Thank you, big round of applause for these outstanding young men and women. Thank you so much. They have answered a trumpet and a call to arms. You may notice that during a typical military celebration, we have benedictions, and again, we're going to call Reverend, and he's also the pastor and the chaplain of CMAQ, Reverend

1:09:38 Donald Singleton, to come up and give a benediction. You're doing good, brother, you're doing good. You know, I get excited. Sometimes I get so excited. I remember when the guys used to show up on submarines, a time when I was a first lieutenant.

1:10:35 I used to welcome on board, and I always made sure that they had a song to sing, and many of them didn't have a song, and I had to explain to them that you had a song. Everybody in here has a song? Because in times of challenge, you got to be able to reach for something that you can't just say. You got to be able to sing it. I think this is a graduation ceremony, so think about graduation and think about a song that you can sing for the rest of your life. Let me help you here. Have anybody heard the birthday song? Do you know how to say that, sing that? How does it go? Help me out. ♪ Happy birthday to you, yeah, happy birthday to you, right, happy birthday, dear chaplain,

1:11:32 yeah, happy birthday to you ♪ See, y'all don't believe me. Let's try this side over here. Let's try them. Come on. Can you sing it for me? ♪ Happy birthday to you, oh, there, happy birthday to you ♪ Oh, hold, time out, hold it. We're on the wrong side. How about this side? Come on. ♪ Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, dear chaplain, happy birthday to you ♪ Now, so what I want you to do with that song, I want you to take it with you. When your drill sergeant or company commander asks you to run five miles and you only have four miles in you, I want you to sing that song and make that run. I want you to start preparing your hearts now for everybody that's going into the military

1:12:29 because see, we depend and we need you. Get that song in your spirit. When you're frustrated, you can't sing to get to where you want to go, just sing happy birthday and get up on a good foot. Play with me, church, Lord, I want to thank you, Father, for those who are stepping out, stepping in. Oh, Lord, help us, Father. Give them the strength that in times when they try to lift up their feet and they're so tired they can't do it, give them the strength, Father. The Bible says, "I will lift my eyes into the hills from which cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord." So, Father, build a hedge around them, help them to know, understand, and believe that every time they take a step, they're not just by themselves, we're with them.

1:13:28 We're praying for them. We're asking the Lord to pour out a blessing that there's not room enough to receive it so they have to give it away. And, Father, we won't be slow to give you praise and thanks. Lord, thank you for what you've already done and what you're about to do. All these things we asked in Jesus' name, for in Jesus' name we pray. And the church said, "Amen." Come on. You know I can't sing. Amen. [Applause] >> Thank you, Reverend Singleton. Thank you so much. Also, we're going to have another song, and that is by Ray Reynolds. He is going to sing to us "God Bless the USA." [Applause]

1:14:22 Parents, I'm going to talk to you first real quick. I want you to know you should not be afraid. I look in the audience and I see the moms, and I want you to know not to be afraid. I want you to know that you should not be afraid because your girls, your boy, they're in good hands. I know this because I've got four in. My Joshie is in the Air Force. That's right. I said Joshie.

1:15:21 He's now Captain Joshua David Reynolds in the Air Force. He sat right where you guys sat, and I shook his hand as he walked. My Jojo, he's a Marine. He's now Sergeant Josiah Andrew Reynolds. My John boy, my John boy is now Sergeant Jonathan Ray Reynolds. My Maya man, my little Maya who sat in your seat where you're sitting right now. He's a Marine.

1:16:21 He's now Captain Jeremiah Christopher Reynolds. Parents, it's terrifying when my boy deployed, but I knew they're going to do good. And your boy, your girl is going to be all right, and you're going to support them. And that's what they'll need. Because if tomorrow all the things are gone, you worked for all your life, and you had to start again with just your children and your wife. You thank our God above that we are living here today because that flag still stands

1:17:19 for freedom. And they can't take that away. And I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free. And I won't forget the men who died and gave that right to thee. And I'll gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today because there ain't no doubt that we love this land. God bless the USA from the lakes of Minnesota to the hills of Tennessee, across the plains of Texas from sea to shining sea, from Detroit down to Houston, from New York to LA.

1:18:15 Well there's pride in every American heart, and it's time you stand and say that you're proud to be an American, where at least you know you're free. And you won't forget the men who died and gave that right to thee. And you'll gladly stand up next to us and defend her still today because there ain't no doubt that I love this land, that there ain't no doubt that we love this land. There ain't no doubt that we love this land.

1:19:03 God bless the USA. Thank you Mr. Ray Reynolds, and every time I hear him sing that it brings tears to my eyes. As we conclude tonight, a couple things I'd like to say. First of all, we're not going to retire to color, so they're available to you to take pictures with your son or daughter who's in Alyssa tonight. A couple shout outs I would like to do in case you didn't notice, we have the Blue Star table out there. Just for parents of past, present, and future service people, feel free to drop off, give your information and introduce yourselves to the Blue Star table.

1:20:00 In addition, we have the Veterans of Foreign Wars, which is represented by Greg Gilverson. He was one of those in the gauntlet tonight that shook the hands of everybody that passed through. And also the USO is present here tonight, so you can get information from them also. I want to do a special shout out also to Thompson Metal Fab. You see their name on the back of their bulletin. They sponsored this event tonight. We really want to thank them. And if there's a representative from Thompson Metal Fab, will you stand up, and we'd like to recognize you. Okay, if you run across somebody, thank them so much. I ran across one of the representatives a couple weeks ago at the gym, and I thank them so much for sponsoring this event tonight. There's also some light refreshments in the back.

1:20:57 Feel free to take your time, mingle, introduce yourselves to each other, to the people that are on the stage. Also the Columbia newspaper sent me an email today that if you would like to be interviewed, please contact me afterwards, and I'll make sure they will have your name, because they would love to interview the enlistees and the parents. I'd love to run an article in their paper. So light refreshments available. Take your time and the information. And again, this concludes the formal portion of this evening's ceremony. Again, I'm Ron Powers, and I was in the Army for four years at the tail end of the Vietnam War, and it was just so great to see the legacy of our nation being carried on with the honorees that we have tonight. Thank you so much.

1:21:57 And this concludes the session. Thank you.