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Obligation to serve

Ross Hartmann, left, and Wayne Murie received full scholarships to service academies. Hartman will be going to West Point and Murie to the Merchant Marine at the end of August. (Barbara Minton / The Spokesman-Review)
Barbara Minton Correspondent
Ross Hartmann, left, and Wayne Murie received full scholarships to service academies. Hartman will be going to West Point and Murie to the Merchant Marine at the end of August. (Barbara Minton / The Spokesman-Review)

Two graduating seniors from the small town of Wallace have big aspirations. Ross Hartmann, with a 4.09 grade-point average, is headed to U.S. Military Academy, West Point, N.Y., to study civil engineering. Wayne Murie, with a grade-point average of 2.91, is off to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, studying aeronautical engineering, maritime transportation systems or naval engineering.

“I picked West Point because the education and training is second to none and the best way to serve our country,” says Hartman.

Murie, too, wants to serve his country. “I enlisted in the Marine Corps just in case and canceled the contract once receiving notice I made Merchant Marine,” he says.

After graduating, both boys will be second lieutenants starting five-year stints of active-duty service, followed by three years of inactive duty. Both say they’ll decide in their sophomore year after orientation on how they would like to serve their country.

To gain admission to the service academies, the boys have to meet rigorous academic and physical standards and be nominated by a U.S. representative or senator. Hartmann had outstanding SAT and ACT test scores and graduated at the top of his Wallace High School class. He was also named the school’s athlete of the year, playing football, basketball and golf.

Murie’s overall grade-point average was a little low due to his freshman year, but showed continuous improvement, and he achieved a 4.0 in his final semester. A letterman in football and baseball, Murie also enrolled in ROTC, logging more than 20 hours a week in the training program.

Both boys also put in more than 100 hours of community of service.

An obligation and a duty to serve the country is why both boys choose to seek out the military.

“It is an admirable thing to do,” says Hartmann.

Murie became interested in the military by studying history, especially World War II and Vietnam.

“Looking at the soldiers dying for me, I feel my country needs me, and I am obligated to serve my country for the freedoms I receive,” he says.