The third annual enlistee recognition gala was recently held to honor area high school students who are graduating from academia to the military, choosing to serve and protect our country. The event was hosted by Our Community Salutes (OCS) Midlands South Carolina Chapter, with the generous financial support of multiple sponsors. Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) was the “Circle of Honor” top sponsor.

“We’re here to recognize and honor the impressively brave commitment these young men and women have made for us and also to provide their parents or guardians with community support as their son or daughter transitions into military service,” said Jim Foley, Chairman for OCS, a nonprofit organization. “All the veterans who came together to help form the Our Community Salutes Midlands Chapter experienced the same anxieties and challenges each enlistee attending today’s event now are facing after making the decision to join the military. And each had the same courage, the same guts to raise their right hand, sign those documents and take the oath.”

In addition to an impressive list of guest speakers, including the first female from South Carolina to hold the rank of Lt. Gen. Maria Gervais, the enlistees each were escorted by a member of the U.S. Armed Services, provided an excellent meal and presented with a specially minted challenge coin commemorating the occasion. The keynote speaker for the evening was Medal of Honor Recipient Sgt. Ryan Pitts (U.S. Army, Airborne). Pitts distinguished himself by extraordinary acts of heroism at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty during combat in Afghanistan. He chose to attend the event to honor the enlistees, provide advice and create a scholarship fund for the Veteran and Military Success Program at the University of South Carolina Aiken. He began his presentation by describing the attack he and his fellow soldiers endured the night of July 13, 2008, in the vicinity of a tiny village in a highly mountainous region of the country.