CHARLOTTE AMALIE — The Virgin Islands National Guard saluted all the high school seniors who were honored during the Our Community Salutes – U.S. Virgin Islands annual high school recognition ceremony held at the Sgt. First Class Leonard B. Francis Readiness Center in St. Thomas.
“Let me be one of the first to thank you for your service,” planning committee chair Beresford Edwards said. “The ceremony could not have been as successful without donations from our corporate sponsors: La Reine Chicken Shack, Caribbean Insurance Finance, Inc., Divine Funeral Services and Crematory, Splinter’s Kitchen, Myron Danielson American Legion Post 85, Government House, Virgin Islands National Guard, and USAA.”
During the recognition ceremony, the enlistees heard remarks from the Governor Albert Bryan, the Lt. Governor Tregenza Roach, Senate President Donna Frett-Gregory, the VING Adjutant General Kodjo Knox-Limbacker, Patrick Farrell, Director, Office of Veterans Affairs; and Keynote Speaker, VING Chief of Staff Col. Sally Petty.
“I want to congratulate the founders and volunteers of Our Community Salutes of the Virgin Islands for recognizing the need to offer guidance and support not only to individuals who enlist in the military upon graduation from high school; but also, for providing information and resources to their families as they transition from civilian to military life,” Frett-Gregory said.
VING Maj. Gen. Kodjo Knox-Limbacker administered the Oath of Enlistment during the ceremony to the following future Service Members: four U.S. Army Soldiers – Bianca Campbell, Rahyim George, Tjuannie Harrigan, and Delisa Nation; three Army National Guard Soldiers – Jesani Winston, Carlton Rogers, and L’Nye Liddie; two U.S. Marines – Henry Connor-Quiterio, and Paul Castleberry; and three U.S. Navy Sailors – Candace Wade-Franklin, Avishai Hodge, and Lorenz Smith.
The Our Community Salutes – U.S. Virgin Islands, a non-profit corporation, was incorporated on March 22, 2022. Our Community Salutes was founded by Kenneth Hartman in 2009 to recognize and honor high school seniors and their parents/guardians who plan to enlist in the United States Armed Forces. Hartman is an educator, former Army officer, and CEO of Our Community Salutes.