Duty. Honor. Country. These three words are what any soldier will tell you they stand by. Some join to start a career. Some have family ties from the military. They have the great privilege to service America, and  find an opportunity to start a new life.

At Latrobe, a handful of students plan to join the military after graduation. One of the students is senior Rae Reed. She wanted to take a more exciting life path than sitting in a  classroom. Reed said she needed to “branch out” and wanted to make a career out of it.

She is currently enlisted and is going to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri where she currently has a reserved MOS, Military Occupational Specialty, Military Police. She also said so many options to choose from are awaiting that she could benefit in whatever she does.

Senior Jarrett Patterson is another student planning on joining the military after graduation. He mentioned he has grown up around around the military, “I have a lot of family that’s been in the military so I’ve grown up around it and it’s been a lifelong dream to be an officer in the Navy.”

Patterson is attending Penn State next fall where he has applied for the Reserve Officers Training Corps, ROTC program with the Navy.

A once young man from Mt. Pleasant also had aspirations to join the military after graduating high school. A young boy who grew up playing “war”, Bill Lozier, was transformed into one of highest ranks in the entire army.

He grew up digging fox holes, building bunkers, running around, and even collecting scraps for the scrap drive, in support of World War II.

In the 1940s, it was the “natural” thing for young adults to do was go off and serve. Men joined the army, women went into the factories. They did their duty to help the cause. He was only in grade school when World War II was going on and entered high school when the war was over.

After high school, Lozier applied and then tried to get appointments to get into the Military Academy at West Point, which was very difficult at the time. Instead he attended Penn State and joined ROTC. After a year, he earned his appointment at West Point.

He joined the infantry – the army. “It was just a bug under the saddle to try the academy and I did.” His father was in the Army Air Corp, he followed his family’s lifestyle.

After the war, he was in Korea for 16 months, then went to Germany, then two tours in Vietnam where he entered as a major. He went to Fort Lee, then went to ROTC Regional Headquarters. He then ended with recruiting duty. He made a career out the army. He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1983, six ranks away from holding the highest position in the U.S. Army.

“You look for a career,” Lozier said, “you look for a challenge and an opportunity, and that’s what the services have to offer.” He acknowledged that you do serve your country, but a career and an opportunity which is a primary importance. He devoted almost 30 years of his life to the military as a career.

“It is a challenge,” Lozier said. The military isn’t for everyone, but some are take the challenge like as Reed and Patterson soon will. They will answer the call of duty like Lozier once did and try to join him in the ranks as a Lieutenant Colenel.