Local veteran speaks to LH MIddle School students
United States Marine Corps Retired Lance Corporal Brandon Rumbaugh speaks to a packed auditorium at Laurel Highlands Middle School on Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016.
Laurel Highlands Middle School students listen as United States Marine Corps Retired Lance Corporal Brandon Rumbaugh speaks to a packed auditorium at Laurel Highlands Middle School on Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016.
United States Marine Corps Retired Lance Corporal Brandon Rumbaugh speaks to a packed auditorium at Laurel Highlands Middle School on Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016.
While Veterans Day is a day to honor veterans and show them gratitude for the sacrifices they have made. However, Mike Rozgony, principal at Laurel Highlands Middle School, believes it is so much more than that.
“This is a teachable moment,” said the educator before his school’s annual Veterans Day program Thursday. “They need to learn respect, and it starts when their young.”
When it comes to teaching respect, Cpl. Brandon Rumbaugh, a 27-year-old veteran who has completed tours in the Middle East and lost both of his legs after stepping on an improvised explosive device (IED) in Afghanistan, said Rozgony and the teachers must be doing a good job based on the students’ behavior at the assembly. He commended them on the respect they showed to him at the assembly.
Rozgony, who met Rumbaugh when he was a sophomore football player at Uniontown High School, asked Rumbaugh to come to speak at the assembly because he feels his students can learn from his experiences, not just in the military but what he’s done with his life since his return.
Rumbaugh was just 18 when he joined the U.S. Marines. After completing boot camp and infantry training, he was assigned to the 1st Battalion 8th Marines as an 81mm mortar gunner. He was first deployed in March of 2009 to Iraq for a seven-month tour. Shortly after returning, he was deployed again to Afghanistan, where he served as squad leader.
After having already suffered multiple injuries from IED explosions in Afghanistan, his life was changed forever when he attempted to aid a fellow Marine who was wounded after stepping on an IED. Knowing that where there is one, there is several more, he still plunged in to help and triggered a secondary IED approximately 10 to 15 feet away from his fellow Marine. He lost one leg at the knee and the other up to the hip, and suffered a broken back in the incident.
He passed out on the medical helicopter and woke up two weeks later in Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He spent two years undergoing extensive medical treatment before eventually returning to his hometown of Uniontown. In September 2012, Rumbaugh retired medically from the military. He was just 24 years old.
Despite the fact that this was Veterans Day, Rumbaugh actually spent little time talking about himself and instead had a very special message to deliver to students. He shared how important it is for them as students to help each other help as often as they can. He especially urged students to act when they see something that isn’t right, including bullying.
“It still happens. I can remember it happening, and I didn’t do anything about it. If you see it happen, stop it.”
He added that students are in school for one reason — to receive an education.
“You all have a common goal. Work together. Help each other achieve that goal.”
When you’re young, Rumbaugh said, it’s easy to think you are alone, but he promised the students that there are others going through the exact same things every day.
When he was wounded and lying on the ground, he thought of all the things he had done in his life and realized he could do a lot more. He promised himself if he lived, he would do just that.
Having dedicated his life to his country, Rumbaugh now spends his time serving the community through charitable works. He shares his motivational story of perseverance, loyalty and faith.
At the end of his presentation, Rumbaugh answered several questions posed by students at the school, including one where a student asked if he thought his accident was meant to be.
Rumbaugh said he gets the question often in his appearances.
“I believe everything happens for a reason,” said Rumbaugh, who added he had a feeling something like that would happen because he had experienced a number of near-misses while deployed.
In addition, Rumbaugh announced a mentoring program he is starting for troubled youth with schools in the area.
“With your parents’ permission, they are going to send you to me and we are going to put you to work,” said Rumbaugh. “The less I see of you this year and years to come, the better.”
Other veterans were invited to the event, including 21-year-old Derrick Evans from New Salem. Wearing his dress blues, the member of the U.S. Marines Reserve said Veterans Day means so much more to him now that he is serving his country. In addition, Evans had the opportunity to hear his 14-year-old cousin Gianna perform taps during the ceremony, which was a real treat. Evans is planning to attend Duquesne University in the spring to study pharmacy.
The school’s band and ROTC students also participated in the program.
According to Rozgony, honoring veterans is something that is very important to him and the school, which has a Veterans Garden outside to pay tribute to all veterans. Rozgony’s predecessor, Mary Macar, led the charge in getting the garden installed to honor local veterans of the school and faculty. It was dedicated in 2012.