The Rotary Club of Superstition Mountain – Apache Junction/Gold Canyon was thrilled to have as a speaker on September 24, U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Cory Remsburg and his parents, Craig and Annie. Cory is a native Arizonian and currently lives in Gilbert, AZ. With over 75 in attendance including several local dignitaries, it was a very moving and memorable presentation.
Sgt. Remsburg was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment in Kandahar Province in 2009 as a weapons squad leader. He was on this 10th deployment to the region. His squad was securing an emergency evacuation helicopter landing zone when one of the squad members was killed by an improvised explosive device. Sgt. Remsburg was also seriously injured. He was immediately evacuated to a field hospital then on to a military hospital in Germany. Within a few days, we was returned to the United States for additional treatment. He was in an medically induced coma for 8½ months. Since then he has undergone numerous surgeries and extensive physical therapy.
During President Obama’s State of the Union address earlier this year, Sgt. Remsburg was seated next to Michelle Obama.
He volunteered for the U.S. Army and Ranger training on his 18th birthday and is an outstanding example of the courage and dedication of many of our country’s young fighting men and women.
In addition, AARP Studios was on hand filming the entire event for an upcoming television documentary on Family Caregiving. The series is about Baby Boomers parents caring for their children in the military returning from war injured. AARP is planning to launch the series November 11, Veterans Day.
Cory, thank you for your service and sacrifice!
In tribute to Cory, the Apache Junction High School Navy ROTC Color Guard was invited to post colors as Rotarians and guests cited the Pledge of Allegiance. Today, we only had four of the five member unit as we learned that 16 year old ROTC Operations Officer and Apache Junction High School Senior, Jarrod O'Dane was fatally stuck by a car Tuesday morning while jogging before school. Jarrod was a straight A student and in the process of applying for a Marine Corp Scholarship. After the colors were posted and the pledge was complete we shared a moment of silence for Jarrod.
