The Boys In Blue

Holland Primm, Editor

After hearing a major from the Army thank him for serving his country, knees shaking, senior Blaine Dassero raised his right hand and swore to protect his country with his life.

“It was definitely one of the proudest moments of my life. It was funny because my legs were shaky because I was nervous, but my hand that was raised was solid,” Dassero said.

Having already sworn in to the military, Dassero’s future with is completely planned out. He will complete his senior year while meeting with his recruiter twice a month to check up. After graduation, he will leave for Navy basic training on July 6 for eight weeks of initial navy training, and then he will attend a school in San Antonio, Texas for 12 weeks of corpsman school. There, Dassero will learn basic medical training that can be used for any medical job in the Navy or the Marine Corp.

“Hopefully, I’ll transition to the Marine Corp. to serve as a combat medic in one of their raider units, and I’ll receive more medical training for trauma care and things along that line,” Dassero said.

Being in the military has been a goal and a dream for Dassero for his entire life, but he is not the only one that has been eager to join for years.

“When I was growing up, I loved military movies, saying ‘That’s the title I want to have, that’s the family I want to be a part of’. Later on, I realized that I felt like I needed to serve my country, because there was no other thing I loved more,” senior Quinton DeShazo said.

DeShazo also plans on entering the military directly out of high school, but will swear in after he graduates. He will then attend Infantry and Ranger school, then go through basic training, and then Advanced Individual Training, or AIT, for job training. He will then go to jump school for three weeks to learn how to jump out of planes, followed by the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program.

“If everything goes to plan, [I’ll] be an Army Ranger and be in the 75th Ranger Regiment. Afterwards, I will use my reserve part of my contract to attend school, then attempt to work for the federal government as the final of my career,” DeShazo said.

DeShazo and Dassero attend the gym together in order to help one another prepare for their respective roles in the military. Though they have chosen different paths, they are still able to bond over their reasons for joining.

“I do think it’s one of the highest honors for a man to serve his people and his country, and if it comes down to it, die for his country,” Dassero said.

As they complete their final year of high school, both boys look readily toward the future of which they have dreamed about since they were young boys.

“I don’t think there’s anything better I could to with my life,” DeShazo said. “It is the next chapter in my life and I’m ready for it.”