In His Honor

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Interlachen graduates receive awards in memory of Robert Jenkins

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  • Peter Person, left, presents Loztris Vazquez with an award from the 3rd Battalion Association after Leo Granger, right, named the winners of the Robert H. Jenkins Foundation scholarship.
    Peter Person, left, presents Loztris Vazquez with an award from the 3rd Battalion Association after Leo Granger, right, named the winners of the Robert H. Jenkins Foundation scholarship.
  • Loztris Vazquez holds a challenge coin, one of the prizes she received for winning the 3rd Battalion Association award.
    Loztris Vazquez holds a challenge coin, one of the prizes she received for winning the 3rd Battalion Association award.
  • Positively Putnam FL
    Positively Putnam FL
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INTERLACHEN – It may have occurred later than planned and without the fanfare, but three 2020 Interlachen High School graduates were awarded in honor of a Putnam County native who gave his life for his fellow Marines.

A handful of people gathered at the high school Thursday to announce Chloe Owens and Spring Williams won $500 scholarships from the Robert H. Jenkins Foundation. Owens and Williams were not present to receive their prizes.

Loztris Vazquez, however, was present. She was the recipient of the of the 3rd Recon Association award, which has ties to Private 1st Class Jenkins, a member of the Third Reconnaissance Battalion in the Third Marine Division. 

“I was surprised … because there are a lot of people who applied,” Vazquez said. 

Both sets of awards are given out annually, with the Jenkins Foundation honors normally presented at the school’s graduation ceremony and the 3rd Recon Association prize handed out at the IHS awards ceremony.

Because of COVID-19 restrictions, the events were postponed or canceled. 

Despite the cancellations, the students needed to be honored because they put in a tremendous amount of hard work during their years in school, said Leo Granger, the founder of the Jenkins Foundation.

“(We wanted to recognize) the time that they gave and the effort they had because they have to give back to the community,” Granger said. “This lets us not forget about Robert and what he did and, on the same token, help out another kid in the community.”

Jenkins was 20 when, while serving in the Vietnam War, he threw his body on top of a live grenade to protect his fellow soldiers.

For eight years, the foundation has awarded $500 scholarships to two graduates from Interlachen, Jenkins’ hometown. The 3rd Recon Association also awards students annually by giving $1,000 to graduates from Interlachen, New York City, Austin, Texas, and Kellogg, Idaho, the hometowns of four members of the battalion who served in Vietnam, died in the service and received the Medal of Honor.

Peter Person, a member of the Third Reconnaissance Battalion,  presented Vazquez with her prizes, which included a certificate and a challenge coin.

“(The coin is) symbolic of her honorary membership of the 3rd Recon Association,” Person said. “(Jenkins’) gallantry … he unselfishly threw himself on a grenade to save his fellow Marines.”

Person said association members looks for a selfless team player when selecting recipients of the award, and Vazquez fit the bill. 

Group members and IHS employees praised Vazquez for her outgoing nature and willingness to help in any way she can.

During high school, she was a battalion commander in JROTC, an English-Spanish translator, and a member of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office’s Explorer and Police Athletic League programs.

IHS guidance counselor Michelle Mikell it would take some getting used to Vazquez no longer being at the school but knows she will do well in the future.

“When someone says, ‘Choose someone,’ she comes to everyone’s mind,” Mikell said of Vazquez. “She’s just an all-around good kid.”

Now that high school is over, Vazquez plans to stick with the sheriff’s office by becoming a corrections officer. While doing so, she will dual enroll at St. Johns River State College in Palatka, where she will study criminal justice. 

Afterward, she wants to be a patrol deputy.

“I hang out with a lot of the deputies, and I see the challenges they go through,” Vazquez said. “And I wanted to challenge myself.”