Marine Corps Leaders, Education Officials Present Scholarships

WASHINGTON — Marine Corps and edu­ca­tion lead­ers pre­sent­ed schol­ar­ships to 25 sons and daugh­ters of Marines killed or wound­ed in com­bat dur­ing the Marine Corps Schol­ar­ship Foundation’s 2010 announce­ment recep­tion here yes­ter­day.

Dal­ton M. Berrie, a col­lege stu­dent at the Vir­ginia Com­mon­wealth Uni­ver­si­ty in Rich­mond, Va., accepts the 5th Marine Divi­sion Schol­ar­ship from Assis­tant Com­man­dant of the Marine Corps Gen. James F. Amos in the Library of Con­gress, Sept. 14, 2010. Sgt. Maj. of the Marine Corps Carl­ton W. Kent stands at left and Mar­garet B. Davis, pres­i­dent and chief exec­u­tive offi­cer of the Marine Corps Schol­ar­ship Foun­da­tion, stands on the right. Since 1962, the foun­da­tion has pro­vid­ed more than 25,000 schol­ar­ships. U.S. Marine Corps pho­to by Lance Cpl. Jacob D. Osborne Click to enlarge

Marine Corps Assis­tant Com­man­dant Gen. James F. Amos and Sgt. Maj. of the Marine Corps Carl­ton W. Kent took part in pre­sent­ing the schol­ar­ships at the Library of Con­gress’ Great Hall. 

“This schol­ar­ship has made it pos­si­ble for me to only take one small stu­dent loan, which is amaz­ing,” said Dal­ton M. Berrie, recip­i­ent of the 5th Marine Divi­sion Schol­ar­ship and a stu­dent at Vir­ginia Com­mon­wealth University. 

Berrie, who will be study­ing to obtain a doc­tor­ate and to con­duct tis­sue engi­neer­ing research, said he went to the foun­da­tion in mem­o­ry of his grand­fa­ther, Maj. Kendal B. Pret­ty­man, who served on Iwo Jima. 

This year, the foun­da­tion pro­vid­ed 1,423 schol­ar­ships worth $4.25 mil­lion, said Mar­garet B. Davis, pres­i­dent and CEO of the Marine Corps Schol­ar­ship Foun­da­tion. Since 1962, the foun­da­tion has pro­vid­ed more than 25,000 schol­ar­ships worth more than $60 million. 

Retired Marine Corps Gen. Robert Mag­nus, chair­man of the foundation’s board of direc­tors, said the recep­tion rec­og­nized the schol­ar­ship recip­i­ents “as they embark on their own jour­ney, dis­cov­er­ing and learning.” 

“There is no fin­er thing that we can do for them but to take care of their chil­dren,” he added. 

Alyssa Blaz­er, an Okla­homa City Com­mu­ni­ty Col­lege stu­dent and Heroes Trib­ute Schol­ar­ship recip­i­ent, lost her father, Staff Sgt. Melvin L. Blaz­er, while he was serv­ing in Fal­lu­jah, Iraq, on Dec. 12, 2004. “Although the cir­cum­stances aren’t the best,” she said, “it lets me know I’m tak­en care of.” She said she is aim­ing to work for NASA as a microbiologist. 

“Access to high­er edu­ca­tion is the main pri­or­i­ty of this foun­da­tion,” said Scott D. Pear­son of the Edu­ca­tion Department’s office of inno­va­tion and improvement.“The foun­da­tion wants to ensure every mil­i­tary child gets an education.” 

Source:
U.S. Depart­ment of Defense
Office of the Assis­tant Sec­re­tary of Defense (Pub­lic Affairs) 

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