So Help Me God

Rebecca Parrish. M.D., stood proudly as Richard Lampe, M.D., chairman of the Department of Pediatrics and a retired colonel in the U.S. Army, presented her oath during her commissioning ceremony as an air force officer.

The Military Commissioning Ceremony, a part of the School of Medicine commencement activities, recognized two School of Medicine students who will honorably serve in the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force. Both Parrish and Steven Wilding, M.D., completed their degrees through the Health Professions Scholarship Program.

Lampe, who served 24 years in the Army with the last five at Walter Reed Hospital, was the presiding officer at the pinning and promotion ceremony.

“This is a time-honored tradition to see the visible transformation from student to officer,” Lampe said. “Rebecca and Steven will treat patients and their families from all over the world.”

Parrish will be completing her residency as a pediatrician at San Antonio Army Medical Center.

“This military commissioning is such an important day in my life,” Parrish said. “It is a dream come true to serve and be in blue.”

Wilding will complete his residency in orthopaedics at Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii. He was pinned by Edward Yeomans, M.D., chairman of the TTUHSC Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Yeomans served in Vietnam as an Army medic and is a retired Lt. Colonel.

“I am proud to be a doctor and a captain in the U.S. Army,” Wilding said. “Above all, I am proud to represent the U.S. as well as the medical field.”

U.S. Military Oath of Commissioned Officers

“I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to do the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; So help me God.”

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