The U.S. Army is officially honoring three slain JROTC cadets for their heroism during the Florida school shooting.
According to Task & Purpose, Peter Wang, Alaina Petty and Martin Duque are all being awarded Medals of Heroism, which is the service’s highest level of medal for Reserve Officers’ Training Corps cadets.
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Petty’s family has already been presented with her medal, and both Duques’ and Wang’s families will receive theirs this week.
All three students were killed while attempting to save their fellow students when a former student opened fire on them.
As has been widely reported, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder, one for each of the students and adults he allegedly shot to death on Wednesday, Feb. 14, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
Coincidentally, a recent online petition is calling for 15-year-old Wang to receive a full military funeral.
The JROTC Cadet “was last seen, in uniform, holding doors open and thus allowing other students, teachers, and staff to flee to safety,” according to the petition page.
“Wang was killed in the process. His selfless and heroic actions have led to the survival of dozens in the area. Wang died a hero, and deserves to be treated as such, and deserves a full honors military burial,” the petition adds.
As of this writing, the petition has over 60,000 signatures and is well on its way the 100,000 signature goal.
BBC News reports that a friend and neighbor of Wang’s, Jesse Pan, was with the teen’s parents when they found out about his death.
“I was there with his parents, helping translating and finding a funeral home,” Pan said. “His parents fainted as soon as they saw his body. He had got multiple shots in front… So horrible.”
Cruz’s former ROTC leader recently spoke out about the teen, saying he thought Cruz was odd but not dangerous.
Jack Ciaramello is a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High where Cruz was kicked out of and returned on Feb. 14 to carry out the attack. Ciaramello is also a leader in the school’s Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps.
Ciaramello recently explained that his interactions with Cruz left him feeling like the confessed gunman was somewhat troubled, but he says that he never imagined he was capable of carrying out a mass shooting.
According to reports, Ciaramello was not at school during the time of the shooting but his younger brother was.
