Hello

Jeremiah Wesley Irvin Schmunk was my sons full name. You should have seen him try to write out his name when he first started school. His best friend was Jill Allen and she never had problems with her initials. But he was able to concur all the letters. When he was 8 years old, Desert Storm had just started. His first grade teacher was a great lady and she had the children study about the war during class. Some of the students family members were serving overseas, so the kids were very excited to hear stories of the war. One evening, Jeremiah an I were watching TV when a commercial came on the screen. There was "Uncle Sam" pointing at us, telling us that the Army needed you to help support this fight against war. Jeremiah turned to me and told me that the Army wanted his help and could he call them now. The phone number was still on the screen, so Jeremiah wrote the number down and called the U.S. Army immediately. I really didn't think it would go any farther then that, but I was wrong. He talked to the Recruiter on the other side of the phone line, telling him that he could and would help. The recruiter spoke with him for awhile and Jeremiah answered his questions. Then I heard the Recruiter ask, are you still in school? Yes. What grade are you in? lst was Jeremiahs reply. Then I heard the Recruiter, hesitate a second or two and asked Jeremiah, How old are you? Proudly Jeremiah told him he was eight years old. The Recruiter then told Jeremiah he needed to wait until he was a little older, but they would keep his name on the roster and contact him later. I spoke with the Recruiter for a few minutes, thanking him for his patience, that this was no prank, but Jeremiah really did want to do his civilian duty. Later in the month, Jeremiah received a package in the mail, full of Army information and a huge poster of the Army Soldiers standing in full uniform. It was then that Jeremiah told me he was going as soon as he could to help defend his country. Jeremiah had spunk and determination, no job was to small or to big that he would turn away from it. I have always and will forever be very proud of Jeremiah Wesley Irvin Schmunk.