TMS Rob Anders

Newtown is a marvelous place, a charming little New England town nestled among the rolling hills of western Connecticut. The center of the town boasts a 100-foot-tall flagpole in the middle of Main Street. At its top, the American flag waves high above the churches there, the General Store, the Old Inn, Proud Mary’s Tavern and the Edmond Town Hall, which shows $2 movies on Saturday nights. Just down the road is the town library, the Newtown Bee printing press and everyone’s favorite little ice cream parlor. Among the farms and tucked-away neighborhoods, the sprawling trees are old, stately and magnificent in autumn. The annual Labor Day Parade brings out the entire town in red, white and blue and everyone marches from the Veteran’s War Memorial down past the giant flagpole to the Ram Pasture, ending at the Middle School.

The parade is the only thing that ends at a school in Newtown; everything else begins there. The center of the community has forever been Newtown’s children. The community pours its heart and soul into its young people. The schools are excellent and the town is replete with athletic fields, playgrounds and opportunities to explore, learn and grow. The town thrives only because its children thrive, and they do so because it’s a place of strong values, virtue, faith and tolerance.

Newtown represents all that is good about America, stretching back to the Revolutionary War when Rochambeau’s troops camped there as they marched with General George Washington en route to Yorktown in 1781. Since then, it has become the home of Olympic athletes, Eagle Scouts, state champions (NHS Girls Soccer & U11 Little League in 2012), artists, businessmen, musicians, volunteers and public servants all who give back. It’s a place where you’re bound to bump into a friend at the grocery store, or where the barber will cheer your name when you walk in, even if it’s been 10 years since your last haircut there. It’s even the birthplace of Scrabble, where the first game of words with friends was played in 1948.

Newtown is America the way Norman Rockwell painted it. Not everyone is from Newtown, but there’s a little part of Newtown in every part of this country. The quilted community that Newtown has stitched so tight and with such great devotion has been desecrated in a way that tears at the very fabric of America.

Please consider making a donation (https://newtown.uwwesternct.org/), however small, to those most profoundly affected.

Biography:

Branch of Armed Services: Army
Hometown: Newtown, Connecticut
Institution of Higher Learning: Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.)
Degree Sought: Master of Public Policy

Motivated by the example provided by his father who “dropped everything to go fight for America” in the Gulf War, Captain Rob Anders entered schooling at West Point and subsequent training as an Army Ranger to fulfill what he saw as the only true way to directly serve our country. During back to back deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq and while taking part in “construction rather than destruction” as part of the platoon’s mission to rebuild, Rob broadened his understanding of service to encompass all opportunities to passionately and selflessly serve. Coupled with his experiences in rebuilding and the lessons learned in service and leadership, Rob will apply his training in environmental sciences and public policy to a career in environmental policy through which he will lead the way to create a more environmentally responsible community and a better environment for the future of his first child (born this September) and our country.

Quote from Rob:

“I am applied for a Tillman Military Scholarship because I feel my background and my future goals reflect the values of duty, honor, and country so exemplified by Pat Tillman’s service. In 2004, I remember hearing the news that Pat and his Rangers were operating only a few dozen miles north of my platoon’s area of operations in Afghanistan. My soldiers and I were inspired by his courage, motivated by his values, and grateful for his sacrifice. In Pat Tillman’s spirit of selfless service and patriotism, I hope to devote my skills and abilities to a career of service to our country.”