Every year, a senior from Elder is presented with the Sgt. Gregory H. Weber Award by the Montezuma-Cincinnati Detachment of the Marine Corps League. This year’s award was given to Brandon Bell by Vice Commandant Ken Griffith.

Bell was selected for this award because of his personal qualities and academic performance, as well as his positive attitude and classy disposition. He is enlisted in the Army, and will head off for additional training in late June.

I recently interviewed Brandon about this award.

Steven Maurer: My first question is, “What did winning this award mean to you?”

Brandon Bell: Well, to be honest, I was not expecting it, and when they were describing what the award was for, I thought it was gonna be for somebody else. Hearing that it was about American spirit and everything like that, I was like “Well, that guy’s pretty lucky, whoever’s getting that.” When they said my name, I was extremely excited. It’s really a great honor that everyone thinks that I’m an example for American spirit. It just meant a lot to me.

SM: This award is obviously pretty prestigious. How does this make you feel about what you’re doing next year when you’re going into the Army? Does it make you feel like..

BB: Like I’m doing the right thing? Yeah, that definitely helps with that because joining the Army, pretty much, a lot of people told me that I was stupid for doing that, especially my dad. (laughter) There’s a ton of people that said I was making the wrong choice but I always thought that I was making the right choice. Someone giving me an award for it pretty much tells me that Elder is backing me up. They think I’m making the right choice, which is the most important thing to me.

SM: There’s a heritage that Elder has with the Army. How excited are you to be joining that culture of Elder in the Army?

BB: Oh, outstandingly. Being a part of the Support The Troops Club, I got to carry one of the memorials for one of the Vietnam guys in the main hallway, and he was in the Army. Knowing that I get to be a part of his tradition and all those other guys and everyone else from Elder to be in the armed services is really a great honor.