A Newly Minted Norwich Marine Second Lieutenant has his bars pinned on by his Mother at last Saturday's Norwich Commissioning Ceremony at Shapiro Field House. One Hundred and five 2010 graduates received Commissions in the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. Photo by Bill Croney, The Northfield News There was gold in Shapiro Field house last Saturday. Gold bars for the shoulder, that is, as one hundred and five bright, shiny new Second Lieutenants and Ensigns received their Commissions in the Army, Air Force and Marines in an impressive ceremony.

A large crowd made up of family members and friends was on hand to share in the ceremony as the Newly minted Officers in the U.S. Forces made their rank official.

The Guest of Honor and the featured speaker was General Ann. E Dunwoody who is the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Material Command, leads over 67.000 Military and Civilian employees. She is also the first woman to hold the rank of Full General (Four Stars).

General Dunwoody’s speech was brief and to the point. She spoke of the responsibilities the new Officers will assume and the gravity of the present world situation., Her remarks were at times humorous with lines like former President Harry Truman’s “If you want to have a friend in Washington, get a dog,” and then one of her own, “I will keep my speech short. I know that I am the only person standing between you and your Commissions. That can be a dangerous place to be”.

Following the General’s short speech she then led the soon to be Officers in the Officer’s oath That made the new ranks official.

The next part of the ceremony was the awarding of Officers caps and gold bars. As small groups of the new Officers wee called to the front of the crowd friends and family members came forward to hand out the caps and pin on the bars in a very emotional part of the ceremony. Hugs were exchanged and tears flowed as four years of hard work in ROTC came to a conclusion.

All that was left was for the new Officers to receive their “First Salute”.

Each New Officer had previously selected the person to give them their salute and after the salute was returned the new officer was obliged by tradition to pay the person that gave them that “First Salute” one dollar. (Tradition has it that an Officer historically had to pay for the first salute and earn the rest.) The cash was supposed to be unnoticed, but surrounded by lots of grins from both parties each time salutes were exchanged it was easy to tell that the exchange was the worst kept secret in Shapiro Field House last Saturday afternoon.

After the salutes the band rendered a stirring Services Medley and the newly minted Lieutenants and Ensigns were dismissed. Officially ready to assume their new duties.