Two local UM-Flint students attend Pat Tillman Legacy Summit in Washington, D.C.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 | The Flint Journal | Submitted by Cameron Waites

My name is Cameron Waites. I am a student veteran at the University of Michigan-Flint, and also a scholar in the National Institutes of Health Undergraduate Scholarship Program. Currently, I’m at the NIH in Bethesda, Maryland, where I’m working for the summer, trying to learn more about and do biomedical research. I wanted to let you know about the Pat Tillman Foundation’s “Pat Tillman Legacy Summit” that took place last week. As Jeremy Glasstetter and I are both Tillman Military Scholars, we represent the Pat Tillman Foundation and participated in the Legacy Summit in Washington, D.C.

We were at the Capitol last Tuesday and Wednesday meeting with our congressional representatives to tell them about our experiences transitioning from the military as servicemembers back into civilian life as students, and how the Tillman Military Scholars program and Pat Tillman Foundation has assisted the success of our transition. During our time at the Capitol, we met with Senator Carl Levin to discuss these aims, and also happened to meet Senator John McCain and Senator Daniel Akaka. During the Summit Reception, we met Senator McCain again and he seemed to remember us from the previous day. It was quite an awesome time!

The Pat Tillman Foundation’s mission is to invest in veterans and their families through education and community. The path to achieving this mission is the Tillman Military Scholars program – a program that I am a proud and fortunate to be a part of.

The Summit we hosted represents the beginning of an important effort by the Pat Tillman Foundation to increase public awareness of the hardships endured by military families, and to tell the stories of my fellow Tillman Military Scholars.

Cameron Waites is from Mt. Morris. Jeremy Glasstetter is a Davison native.

Cameron Waites, left, Sen. John McCain and Jeremy Glasstetter.
Second row, from left, are Jason Quian, David Boone and Alyssa Huebner

Pat Tillman Legacy Summit | June 9, 2010