Re-enlisting the Army has become tougher with more rigid standards, so leaders of the 40th Military Police Internment and Resettlement Battalion, 15th Military Police Brigade, arranged to have a Medal of Honor recipient conduct a re-enlistment ceremony for about 60 of the battalion’s Soldiers May 3.
Retired Col. Roger Donlon, the first Soldier to receive the Medal of Honor in the Vietnam War, conducted the ceremony. Donlon said he had conducted re-enlistment ceremonies before, but never was able to re-enlist so many Soldiers at once.
Maj. Greta Railsback said she wasn’t really aware of the genocide in Rwanda in the mid-1990s until she watched the 2004 movie, “Hotel Rwanda.”
“I felt like a stupid American,” she said.
When given the opportunity at the Command and General Staff College to learn more about preventing genocide and mass atrocities, she took it. Railsback, a student in the 2012-01 Intermediate Level Education class, wrote a short paper on “Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda,” by Romeo Dallaire, lieutenant general with the Canadian Forces, who worked with the U.N. Assistance Mission for Rwanda and watched the genocide unfold. Dallaire attempted to warn the international community, but got little response. Roughly 1 million died in the ethnic cleansing, and millions more became refugees.
One flick of her wrist, and Maj. Leticia Walpole is surrounded in the blue whir of her jump rope.
Her feet move so fast, her coaches have trouble keeping count. Sweat runs down her well-toned arms and even out her shoes, making a pattern of tiny footprints on the gym floor.
The 49-year-old Army officer and mother of five is attempting to beat the current record in the Guinness World Records for jumping rope at noon today at the Harney Sports Complex west gymnasium. To do this, she’ll have to beat the record of 10,000 rotations in one hour. She has three coaches and five months of training, but inside the blue bubble of her jump rope, she is the only one in control of achieving her goal.
A group of eighth- and ninth-grade students from Patton Junior High School managed to hold their own against high school students during the school’s first year of having a debate team.
Out of about 30 schools in the Kansas City area, mostly high schools, Patton’s team finished in second place. Additionally, Taylor Brunson, ninth-grader, was chosen to be one of five speakers at an awards banquet May 9.
The course was one of several new offerings that began this year for Patton students, intended to give them the same opportunities as high school students. Others included advanced placement and honors world history, for example. Sally Ketchell, English teacher, taught this year’s public speaking and debate class.
This 8-week-old kitten, her three siblings and their mother are available for adoption at the Veterinary Treatment Facility. Call 684-6510 for more information.
Several family-friendly pets are available for adoption at the VTF. Adoption fees vary according to the needs of the pet. The VTF is at 831 McClellan Ave. and is open 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and 1-3:30 p.m. Wednesday. The next Saturday adoption day is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 19 at the Post Exchange. Saturday adoption days are the third week of each month at the PX.
Pets available for adoption are listed on www.petfinder.com.
