D.C. West Point Graduate Featured Speaker at Introduction of Norton's Service Academy Appointees
D.C. West Point Graduate and Iraq War Veteran Featured Speaker at Celebration and Introduction of Norton's 2011 Service Academy Nominees, Wednesday
June 21, 2011
WASHINGTON, DC -- James Nelson Rimensnyder, a D.C. native, West Point graduate, Iraq War veteran, and a member of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton's (D-DC) Service Academy Selection Board, will be the featured speaker as the Congresswoman introduces her 2011 U.S. Service Academy appointees on Wednesday, June 22, 6:30-8:00 p.m., in room 2203 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Each of the appointees will offer brief remarks, and Commander Kerwin Miller, USN SN (Ret), Naval Academy Class of 1975 and chair of Norton's Service Academy Selection Board, will preside. Norton first asked Rimensnyder to serve on her selection board when he was home on furlough. This is the first time a Norton nominee has been the featured speaker at this annual event.
"Mr. Rimensnyder, who grew up here, and whom I nominated to the U.S. Military Academy, is a perfect featured speaker for this congratulatory event," Norton said. "This young West Point graduate was deployed to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2006 as an armor platoon leader and again in 2008 as a Task Force Intelligence officer. I, for one, will be fascinated to hear this rare inside story about the life of a West Point graduate and an Iraq War veteran, and the value of academy education. We are proud of Mr. Rimensnyder for his service to the nation and to our board, but especially because he did not forget his hometown citizenship status and wrote to the president from Iraq concerning D.C. voting rights. I hope that, among other things, he will describe that experience in his remarks."
Four local high school students who live in the District were selected as this year's Service Academy nominees. The recipients are: William Westbrook Moore, Potomac School, U.S. Military Academy; James David Rice, The Bullis School, U.S. Naval Academy Prep School; Atticus Lee Sawatzki, St. Anselm's Abby School, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, and William Guy Merkle, St. Anselm's Abby School, U.S. Air Force Academy.
The students were interviewed by the Congresswoman's Service Academy Selection Board, most of whom are graduates of the academies themselves. All of the Board members live in the District. The Board is a team of accomplished military members who recommended applicants to Norton. The members include: Commander and Chairman Kerwin E. Miller, USN (Ret.); Lt. Commander Wesley A. Brown, U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1949, first African American graduate of the Naval Academy; Chairman Emeritus Steven R. Blust, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Class of 1971; David P. Gragan, U.S. Air Force Academy Class of 1977; OV Johnson; George R. Keys, Jr., U.S. Air Force Academy Class of 1970, Rhodes Scholar; Charles B. King, U.S. Military Academy Class of 1944; Riaz Latifullah, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Class of 1978; Antonio Montes; Professor Barbara J. Smith; Captain Karen E. Courington, U.S. Air Force Reserve; Daniel J. Keenaghan, U.S. Military Academy Class of 2000; Joel C. Spangenberg, U.S. Naval Academy Class of 2000; and James Nelson Rimensnyder, U.S. Military Academy Class of 2005.
Each year, Congresswoman Norton nominates high school students attending D.C. public and private schools, to four service military academies. Appointees ages 17-23, receives a free college education and must remain in the military for five years after graduation. A nomination to a service academy is very competitive, and can only be approved by a member of Congress or the Vice President. For further inquires about Service Academies, contact Congresswoman Norton's district office at (202) 783-5065 or visit https://www.norton.house.gov/.