Marines Honor Recruit From Round Hill With Leadership Award At Graduation Ceremony

ROUND HILL, VA — U.S. Marine PFC Ethan Busenitz of Round Hill graduated from boot camp at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island in South Carolina last Friday, where he was awarded a top honor for his demonstration of leadership skills.

U.S. Marine Sgt. Luis Canjura-Cruz of Leesburg, who recruited PFC Busenitz, was on hand for the ceremony at Parris Island to celebrate with PFC Busenitz and his family.

Upon graduation from boot camp, PFC Busenitz, 22, traveled to Camp Geiger in North Carolina where he will go through 14 weeks of training with a company in the Infantry Training Battalion.

At last Friday’s ceremony, PFC Busenitz was presented The “Chesty” Puller Recruit Company Honor Graduate Award out of the approximately 500 graduating Marines. The “Chesty” Puller Award is presented to the Marine who has demonstrated the highest potential for future leadership and responsibility in the Marine Corps.

He was also part of the 3rd Battalion India Company and the Guide of Platoon 3072, which won Honor Platoon out of all six India Company platoons.

“We were so honored to see him be rewarded for this huge accomplishment and are confident that he will be an amazing Marine,” Tori Busenitz, PFC Busenitz’s mother, told Patch. “All his leaders we met on Parris Island said he was the epitome of what a Marine stands for. We couldn’t be prouder of him and his service to our country.”

PFC Busenitz, who graduated from Centreville High School, was recruited by Sgt. Canjura-Cruz from the Leesburg Marine Corps Recruiting Office.

Although no one in his family is a Marine, PFC Busenitz's uncle is an officer in the U.S. Navy and his grandfather is retired from the Air Force.