Grove City High School (GCHS) senior cadet Moises Falcon has received the NJROTC Meritorious Achievement Ribbon. This is the highest award a cadet can receive and is awarded by the Area Three NJROTC Manager. The NJROTC Meritorious Award is awarded to any NJROTC cadet who distinguishes themself by outstanding, meritorious achievement.
Cadet Falcon earned the award through a heroic act this past August when he put his training to use to assist an employee in a local store he was shopping at who needed life-saving CPR after being unresponsive. He took charge of the emergent situation and stayed by the employee’s side once their breathing resumed until the paramedics arrived. He was able to relay vitals to paramedics and help others at the incident by calling 9-1-1 and getting water for the employee in need.
“It was scary at first, but I snapped out of it when I saw no one else was trying to help,” Cadet Moises Falcon said. “I quickly took charge of the situation and put my CPR training to use to help the person in need.”
“The Meritorious Achievement Ribbon is the highest declaration a cadet can achieve,” GCHS NJROTC Commander Dustin Martin said of the ribbon Cadet Falcon earned. “It is only given out through meritorious acts, such as life-saving actions.”
The Grove City High School NJROTC Unit was re-commissioned in 1994, and the Instructors and Cadets of the Greyhound Company have worked hard to live up to the Navy’s motto of “Honor, Courage, and Commitment.”
“I’m glad I joined the ROTC program when I had a chance,” Falcon said. “I learned leadership and to take charge of the situation. When I first joined, I was lost after moving from Avon. ROTC is a blessing for me and for my future.”
After graduation, Cadet Falcon is planning to pursue training for a career in wildlife control.
Commander Martin added that having a cadet from this unit earn such a high honor, “says a lot about the cadets and how they’ve embraced what the JROTC is about, which is the ability to understand leadership, understand taking action, understand taking care of other people and not being a bystander but an upstander.”
Cadet Falcon received the ribbon from Commander Martin during a recent award ceremony in front of Superintendent Dr. Bill Wise, Deputy Superintendent Dr. Jamie Lusher, Grove City High School administration, Grove City Police Officer Petty, and his fellow cadets.
Cadet Falcon was also recognized by board members for his achievement at the December 12, 2022 Board of Education Meeting in front of family and GCHS NJROTC DCC Anthony Christie.
“I would like to thank the Grove City Police Department and Explorers for teaching me CPR over the summer,” Cadet Falcon said after accepting his award at the Board Meeting. “Without them, I would’ve been another bystander standing behind the counter unable to do anything.”