Take the Pledge to ‘Go Silent’
by Ngozi Osuagwu, MD | May 28th, 2017
I have made the pledge to ‘go silent‘ at 3:00 PM on Memorial Day (May 29, 2017) and I hope you will join me and thousands to pause and remember those that have made the ultimate sacrifice. Over 200 women have died in combat since 9/11. This year I pledge to ‘go silent’ in honor of one of those women – Second Lieutenant Emily Jazmin Tatum Perez. She was killed in combat on September 12, 2006. She was 23 years old.
I am not related to her and knew nothing about her until I was listening to the news and heard about her death in 2006. Here was a brilliant young girl taken away so early. I cried and I cried. She was ranked among the top10 students in her high school class. After graduation from high school, she attended the United States Military Academy at West Point. She excelled in all subjects and graduated top 5 percent of her class. She was killed in action leading a convoy in Iraq. A mission for which she had volunteered. She was the first female African-American officer in U.S, military history to die in combat.
I know that for most of us, Memorial Day is a day off work, a time to barbecue, a time to relax and the list goes on, but I also would like you to consider this day as a time to pause and remember those soldiers that have died so that our freedoms are secured.
To take the pledge, click here.
