PROUD TO SERVE
For young patriots interested in a military career, St. John’s University is the place to be in Queens. It has a Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program. Students take two years of Military Science, after which they sign enlistment contracts and, after two more years of advanced courses, accept commissions in the U.S. Army as Second Lieutenants at graduation. Here are two examples of this year’s crop of young officers-to-be.
– Victor G. Mimoni
Cadet Captain
Desiree Francisca Jenks
Quartermaster Corps
Service is more than a tradition in Cadet Desiree Jenks’ family. “I guess you could say it’s the reason I’m here.”
Her father, the son of a U.S. Marine Korean War veteran, grew up in New Mexico, entered the U.S. Diplomatic Service and, while stationed in Belize, met her mother, one of 20 children, who worked her way through school and college to get a job at the American Embassy. She tallies her ethnic heritage as German-Mayan.
“Whenever he moved, mom got a job there so we could be together,” Jenks recalled. The 22-year-old can barely remember all the places the family has been, “mainland China and Korea, too.” She was born in Taiwan, where her father worked at the American Institute’s Consulate Section and her mother taught school.
The family’s work ethic has paid off for Jenks. With her parents currently in Japan, she’s largely supported herself while at St. John’s, working during her freshman and sophomore years and living on the ROTC stipend cadets receive in their last two years – seniors get $500 per month, she said.
It turns out that her interest in the military didn’t come from her parents or even her grandfather, but from her brother. “About two years ago, he was going to drop out of Adelphi University and join the Army,” she recalled.
“I tried to find other options – we looked at every branch – and I wound up getting interested.” She attained the rank of Cadet Captain and acted as “Tac Officer” for the ROTC battalion, guiding, mentoring and grading the development of cadets in lower classes.
Her brother ultimately enlisted two years ago and recently graduated from the Army’s elite Ranger School. As it turns out, he’s headed back to college – at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
Cadet Lieutenant Colonel
Evans Wang
Field Artillery
About 25 years ago Evans Wang’s parents emigrated from Shanghai, China, with an infant son and a determination to pursue the American dream.
The three are now U.S. citizens and their two youngest sons, U.S. born, serve in uniform, one as a New York City Police Officer and the youngest, Evans Wang, soon to be an Artillery Officer in the U.S. Army.
Although he was born here, Wang speaks Shanghainese, one of the northern Wu dialects of Chinese. “I read and write at the level of a child in grade school, but I’m conversational,” he allowed. His eldest brother is putting his skills to work as an enumerator for the U.S. Census this year.
“I really wanted to serve – I guess I’ve always been a patriot,” Wang said. But it was a friend who got him hooked. “My friend Guy Seminerio asked me to join him at the PT (physical training) sessions the ROTC had in the morning,” Wang recalled. “I really enjoyed the camaraderie.” So he signed up.
Wang excelled in the training, and in his major of sports management, becoming a personal trainer on campus while rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, making him the Cadet Battalion Commanding Officer.
Coincidentally, he lives in the same dormitory building as Cadet Jenks. “We’re friends,” he said.
He and another cadet, Charles Kim promoted the Crossfit physical training methodology at St. John’s, a regimen designed to enhance cardiovascular and respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy. “We established Crossfit Red Storm,” Wang said of the program, about which one can find more at www.crossfit.com.
“It enhances combat readiness,” Wang asserted, which is a good thing, considering that his chosen arm of the service, the Field Artillery, is a combat branch.
