FIGHTING FLYERS LEAD THE WAY

Pro Deo Et Patria. For God and Country. This is the motto for the University of Dayton Fighting Flyer Battalion. For God and Country. These we choose to defend. I have been asked several times through out my college career why I have chosen to join the Army, especially in a time of war. Why in my right mind I would ever want to risk my future by being sent over seas to fight in a foreign land? Why? If you want a reason, I could find a million, but just to list a few. I have 25,000 reasons from the years 1775 to 1783. I have 116,516 reasons from 1917 to 1918. I have 405,399 reasons from 1941 to 1945, 36,516 reasons from 1950 to 1953, 58,151 reasons from 1964 to 1973, 2,974 reasons from September 11, 2001, and as of yesterday another 4,145 reasons who have died in Iraq. All of these sacrifices combined add up to ONE ideal, freedom. I choose to fight because I believe in freedom.

This past summer I had the opportunity to live and study in Costa Rica for a month. While there I learned more than Spanish. I lived, ate, slept and socialized with the native host families and learned a great deal about their culture, while also learning a great deal more about mine. I learned the definition of being poor, and that Americans have no claim to poverty because they will always have opportunity. I learned that in countries like Costa Rica, opportunity does not have the same definition as it does in the United States. I learned that America truly is blessed and that each and every American citizen is privileged more than they know no matter their gender or ethnicity. But most of all, I learned I love my country and the ideals it was founded upon such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that this country is more than worth fighting for. It was all I could do on the flight back home from Costa Rica to keep myself from singing “God Bless America” and “I’m Proud to be an American.”

To my family, Dad, Mom, my brothers, my grandparents, I say thank you for teaching me to always walk tall and to be willing to defend truth at all costs. Thank you for teaching me the value of following God, family, loyalty, honor, courage, and honesty and especially thank you for your support. To the cadre of the Fighting Flyer Battalion, Col. Schretzman, Maj. Adams, Capt. Harber, Msgt. Fleek, Sgt. Gautreaux, Lt. Brooks and Lt. Payne, I say thank you for your leadership and dedication to excellence. Thank you for striving to be the best ROTC Battalion that exists and not settling for anything less. Thank you for asking a lot of me. To my friends, I also thank you for your support and kindness, and I thank you for having my back. I hope you know I have yours. To the current Cadets of the Fighting Flyer Battalion, lead by example.

And to all, Pro Deo Et Patria, God Bless America.

2LT Everett Gilmore

Commissioning Aug 2008