The 39th Annual Mercer County military ball held at Brushfork armory

BLUEFIELD, W.Va. (WVVA) -The Mercer County JROTC’s 39th annual military ball was held today.

Several schools from the county were in attendance including Princeton High School, Montcalm High School, Bluefield High School, and PikeView High School were here. It wasn’t just highschoolers and locals who were present, however.

Landau Murphy Jr, the winner to NBC’s Americas Got Talent, was a guest speaker for the event. He said he wasn’t being paid attend the event, but simply wanted to do it out of the kindness of his heart.

“It’s for the kids,” Murphy said. “I mean like I said these are the future military workers that’s going to be protecting our freedoms.”

Murphy says that he hopes they are just as stubborn and relentless as he is in pursuing their dreams.

“I want them to have determination, focus on [their] goals, taking advantage of all of your opportunities...” He added.

The event itself has already started to instill some responsibilities and work ethics with some of the students. Paul Dorsey, Montcalm JROTC instructor, says that he tried to stay as hands-off as much as possible.

“I kind of stand in the middle of it, point and make things happen,” Dorsey said. “The cadets do all of the work. It’s their program, we just kind of coach.”

Though he may not have had much of a hands-on experience with organizing the event, he said he still felt like he achieved something tonight. He said he was proud to see the students that were graduating go on to either further their career or their education.

“I watched a lot of kids that next year they won’t be in the program anymore because they’ll be going off to college or doing whatever it is they plan to do,” said Dorsey. “That’s the sense of accomplishment.”

Now, Dorsey says he is going to be kicking his feet up and watching from the side lines.

“This is my last year,” he said. “I spent 25 years teaching and before those, 20 years of the army. I think 45 years of wearing the uniform is plenty.”

He, and others in the program hope the JROTC lessons in duty, responsibility, and discipline last a lifetime for these cadets.