You Salute Our Troops :

Dear Fellow Soldiers,
It is with great pride that I give you my son, Brian Christopher Hollmann, the newest Second Lieutenant to the Hollmann family, and the United States Army.Please, be good mentors to him. He will need good NCOs and leaders to shape and mold him as a brand new commissioned officer.

I have great faith in him that he will not disappoint you as a leader. You see, Brian was raised in a military family. From the time he was a teenager, he wanted to be like his dad, in Civil Affairs, and Uncle Ron, a 1995 West Point Graduate and Blackhawk pilot. Brian had four years of Jr. ROTC in High School, and went to Basic Combat Training between his junior and senior years. Then he went to his AIT training to be an Army welder after he graduated. After 2 years in the Army Reserves, Brian transferred to the WA Army National Guard for the remaining 6 years of his mandatory service obligation, so he could get assistance paying for his tuition at WA State University. In November 2003, Brian's National Guard group, the 81st Brigade, was alerted to go to Baghdad, Iraq. I was already mobilized as the First Sergeant with the 2122nd Garrison Troop Support Brigade at Ft. Lewis, Wash., the Power Projection Platform of the Northwest. The Army had different plans for these fine young men and women. Their tanks were cross-leveled to another unit, and we retrained them to be "Urban Infantrymen." For four months, they trained, rehearsed and were evaluated by my unit for their war mission in Iraq.

The hardest thing I ever had to do, as a 1SG and a mom, was to put my son on that plane bound for Iraq. I cannot imagine how difficult it must be for families who don't have a military background... the not knowing what their sons and daughters will be confronted with in a war zone. I will tell you, even though I am a soldier, it was the longest year of my life.

Brian came back from Iraq and returned to WSU to finish his degree in December of 2006. In April 07, now with a 4-year degree, he began his journey at Officer Candidate School in Ft. Benning, Ga. On June 21, Brian was commissioned as a 2LT in the US Army. His father read him the Oath of Office and I had the great honor of pinning on his rank and giving him his 1st salute as a new leader in the Army.

I have a new perspective as a soldier after 28 years. The soldiers we train and mentor today are our new Freedom Fighters. They will be the ones protecting our rights to a free and abundant life as American citizens. So let's do our best to show them that we appreciate what they are doing for us and our families. It is time to share the responsibility, but also to hold those we report to accountable for the places they ask us to go and fight and die.

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