Photo By Sgt. Antonio Rubio | U.S. Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Thomas A. Gorry, Commandant of the Dwight D. Eisenhower...... read more read more
The Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps program was established to develop college students mentally, morally and physically, and to imbue them with the military core values of honor, courage and commitment, in order to commission those young men and women as naval officers. Those graduates who complete their education and receive NROTC training demonstrate the professionalism, motivation and potential to assume the highest responsibilities of command, citizenship and government.
Currently enrolled as a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Lance Cpl. Jeremy Fredrichsdorf was awarded the Marine Corps Commandant’s Trophy for his performance as the top candidate at the U.S. Marine Corps Officer Candidates School, Nov. 19, 2016. He attended the Platoon Leaders Class, a set of two separate six-week training sessions taken between consecutive school years. He distinguished himself out of more than 200 candidates in academic performance, physical fitness and leadership.
Brig. General Thomas A. Gorry, a 1984 UNC Chapel Hill Graduate and current Commandant of the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy, said he was honored to present the young leader with the award.
“I was certainly proud to be a part of this prestigious award ceremony, in which we recognized the stellar performance of a future Marine Corps officer, and showed our appreciation to the University of North Carolina for its support to this outstanding NROTC program,” said Gorry.
Fredrichsdorf, originally from Leverkusen, Germany, moved to Raleigh, N.C., in 2008. While in high school, he saw the diversity and opportunities the United States provided its citizens and realized he wanted to gain his citizenship. During this time, he heard President John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s famous quote “Ask not what your country can do, ask what you can do for your country”. For Fredrichsdorf the answer was clear.
“I joined the Marine Corps,” said Fredrichsdorf. “The Marine Corps is the most difficult to join, and it is the best of all of the branches. The other branches promised things so you would join them, but the Marine Corps recruiters did not. They said that if you wanted to be a part of their Corps that you as an individual would have to want to do it. It was not something that they would just give to you. So I enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserves.”
Fredrichsdorf is currently studying economics and political science and is scheduled to graduate and commission as a 2nd lieutenant in December 2017. While serving in the Marine Corps he hopes to aid developing countries in their economic growth.
“I believe it is our to help nations such as Iraq and Syria which need this economic reform… in order to be able to establish the government that they want to govern them,” said Fredrichsdorf. “As Gandhi once said ‘You must be the change you want to see in the world’”.
| Date Taken: | 11.19.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 12.11.2016 22:43 |
| Story ID: | 217232 |
| Location: | RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 301 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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