Ball State’s ROTC, the Cardinal Battalion, are hosting a bake sale at the Scramble Light today to benefit the USO, a national nonprofit whose mission is to support the troops.
“Today, we really wanted to help out an organization,” Wesley Jones, a senior sociology major, said.
Some of the proceeds also go toward the cadet fund, which finances the ROTC’s activities and events.
Jones said they chose today because it is the 12th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
“As time goes on, a lot of awareness is lowered about what’s happening today and what today is,” he said. “It’s one of those things, like a memorial day or anything like that, where you got to just let people know, this time — a few years back — this thing happened, and it really brought people together.”
Jones said he hopes no one forgets the soldiers who are still fighting.
“We still have a lot of guys in Afghanistan, losing body parts and really having a rough time,” he said. “I just want people to realize there are still people deployed and fighting overseas.”
Today holds a special meaning for Jones, since he said on Sept. 11, 2001, he selected his career.
“Primarily, what it means to me is it’s the reason I joined the military in 2005, so four years after,” he said. “I always had it in my mind from Sept. 11 on that I wanted to join the army. So that’s really what it means — it chose a career field for me to defend my country or kind of just fight for what I believe in.”
