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Three Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) cadets who were killed in the Florida high school will be honored with heroism medals by the U.S. Army.
Who are the three cadets?
A spokesman for the U.S. Army confirmed that Cadet Command has approved Junior ROTC Heroism Medals for the following three cadets: Alaina Petty, Peter Wang and Martin Duque.
Petty’s family was given the medal during her funeral services on Monday, in which over 1,500 people attended.
Wang’s family was given his medal at his service held the following day. According to witnesses of the incident, including teachers and students, Wang died in his junior ROTC uniform while helping students, teachers and staff escape from the shooting.
Duque’s family is expected to receive his medal this upcoming Saturday, in which his funeral services will be held.
All three students were killed by shooter Nikolas Cruz, who himself was an ex-JROTC member, during the Parkside shooting.
Army spokesman Michael Maddox said that other cadets might be considered for awards and a review process is ongoing.
What is being said about this?
The U.S. Military Academy West Point will also posthumously admit Wang, who had dreamed of attending the school before his death. According to Fox News, the academy issued the following statement:
“It was an appropriate way for USMA to honor this brave young man. West Point has given posthumous offers of admissions in very rare instances for those candidates or potential candidate’s whose actions exemplified the tenets of Duty, Honor and Country.”
Florida Gov. Rick Scott also announced that he directed the Florida National Guard to honor the three students. As seen above, he gave the following message on social media:
“@FLGuard members will be attending funeral services and paying respect to these JROTC members, their families and loved ones.”
What is the JROTC Heroism Medal?
According to Fox News, the JROTC Heroism Medal is a U.S. military decoration award, granted by the Department of the Army, to JROTC cadets who were “involved the acceptance of danger and extraordinary responsibilities, exemplifying praiseworthy fortitude and courage.”
