3 cadets get posthumous military honors
Three cadets killed in the Parkland school shooting are being posthumously honored for their acts of heroism.
The Army is recognizing Peter Wang, 15, and Martin Duque and Alaina Petty, both 14, with the Medal of Heroism for the danger and extraordinary responsibility they took on during last week’s shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Friends said the three always had a sense of duty and honor as members of the school’s junior ROTC.
Also Tuesday, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point posthumously admitted Peter to the prestigious academy on the day of his funeral. It’s where Peter dreamed of attending. He could have been in the Class of 2025.
Peter died in his JROTC uniform last Wednesday, holding the door open to allow others to escape, as gunman Nikolas Cruz shot and killed 17 at Marjory Stoneman, authorities and witnesses said.
“He saved people’s lives,” said Victoria Downing, one of Peter’s classmates, at the funeral serv-
ice. “He deserves it.”
West Point conferred the letter of admission, along with honorarium tokens, to his family, local West Point alumnus Chad Maxey said.
Gov. Rick Scott also has directed the Florida National Guard to honor all three cadets. Alaina was honored at her funeral Monday, as Martin will be at his funeral Saturday.
Alaina surprised her family when she joined the junior ROTC at Marjory Stoneman because she had not expressed much interest in it. But she was a natural at it, just as she was at volunteering to help families in Everglades City dig out of Hurricane Irma.
“You could not escape her innate sense right and wrong, but you never felt that she was judging you,” her dad, Ryan Petty, said during her funeral Monday. “She just wanted to be your friend.”
Martin Duque was a freshman whose family remembers him as a funny, outgoing kid, as well as sweet and caring.
Peter’s funeral was awash in patriotic colors even as his family was dressed in black Tuesday. Members of the American Legion, Patriot Guard Riders Association and other veterans groups attended Peter’s casket and waved flags at the entrance of the Kraeer Funeral Home.
Inside, it was standing room only. Peter was in an open casket and wore a cadet’s uniform.
An overflow — hundreds of family, friends, neighbors and students — listened to the proceedings outside at a tent that had been set up. The parking lot was lined with more than a dozen flower wreaths.
“It was the wrong person for this to happen to,” said Andrew Jackson, who used to live next door to Wang. “He was a good kid and I never saw him unhappy.”
West Point Capt. Shahin Uddin was flown to South Florida to provide the posthumous letter to the family during the funeral.
West Point’s honors came after a local veteran’s group heard about Peter’s desire to attend the academy. They went into action, asking for the honor, Maxey said. His heroism “has kindled so many hearts for action in a time when things have felt so hopeless,” Maxey said.
Peter’s junior ROTC unit provided the color guard at the service.
The news that Peter had died helping others didn’t surprise Logan Delima, an eighth-grader at West Glades Middle School.
Delima had a gym class with Wang last year and said he was always nice to the younger kids.
“It’s just like wow, you’re never going to see him again,” Delima said as he remembered how he had just seen Wang playing basketball weeks ago.
Wang played basketball often, his friends said. He was also a fan of the Houston Rockets and hip hop music. Staff photographer Taimy Alvarez contributed to this report.