Members of the Taylorsville High School Junior ROTC Color Guard Team were on hand at a Purple Heart ceremony at the Utah State Capitol on Feb. 21 where U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney awarded the Purple Heart to recipient Corporal Brian Hood. 

The THS JROTC presented the U.S. and Utah flags and opened the ceremony with the pledge of allegiance. The team consisted of cadets Marianne Burg, Allyson Romney, Peter Carlson and Alex Vu.

“We consider that particular group our A team,” said LTC (USA Ret) Jeff Dula, THS JROTC Senior Army Instructor. “That color guard is made up of our senior cadets and they’re very polished. Mitt Romney recognized them. He came up and had a photo shoot with everybody and it was pretty cool.”

With more than 100 active members, the THS Army ROTC is the only one left in the valley. They are often called on to present colors at events on weekends and weeknights, which can be time-consuming for instructors and students. 

“It’s geared to help students to become better citizens and be successful, not necessarily to join the military, although they have that option,” Dula said. “We do more color guards in this ROTC program than probably the whole state combined. It’s an established program and we have several color guard teams…People just know Taylorsville shows up and does a good job.”