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In mid-May, 10-year-old Amery Joe Garza took part in a “rapprochement ceremony” with the scouts, where she and her fellow teenagers would recite the girls’ promise:
“In my honor, I will try to serve God and my country, help people at all times, and live by the Girls Act.
The fourth-grader had only joined the scouts in December, but the “helping people at all times” section came naturally. He is known to defend a classmate in Uwalde, Texas, from thugs. She always took care of her 3-year-old brother Zane. In 2021, she was awarded the golden heart of her school.
On Friday, less than two weeks after the rapprochement ceremony, Amery was recognized at another Scout Girl presentation. This time, she was not there to receive the honors: elementary school student Rob received a posthumous bronze cross, a national award for scouts who risk their lives to save others after she was shot by an 18-year-old shooter while apparently trying to call for help. The girl is among 19 children killed in a shooting at a school on May 24.
In a May 27 letter to Ameri’s family, Girl Scouts CEO Sofia Chang said that Ameri “embodies what it means to be a girl with courage, confidence and character that makes the world a better place.”
“On May 24, 2022, Amery did her best to save the lives of her classmates and teachers and gave her life trying to protect the people around her,” Chang wrote. “By her willingness to take decisive action in the midst of this devastating emergency, Amery serves as a true example of leadership in action.”
Last week, U.S. Girl Scouts posthumously presented America’s Joe Garza, 10, of Uwalde, Texas, with one of the highest honors in Girl Scouting: the Bronze Cross. The bronze cross is awarded for saving or attempting to save a life at the risk of the scout girl’s own life. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/bFjz0I4awa
– South West Texas Scouts (@girlscoutsswtx) May 31, 2022
Amery’s stepfather, Angel Garza, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper last week that after the shooter entered elementary school, Amery pulled out her phone and tried to call 911 when the shooter shot her. Amery received a cell phone just two weeks earlier as a gift for her 10th birthday, her stepfather said.
“She just died trying to save her classmates,” Garza said, crying as he squeezed the photo of the girl. “She just wanted to save everyone.”
It is not clear from official accounts whether Ameri was able to contact police. On Friday, Texas authorities uncovered calls to 911 from two students who desperately sought help as the shooter fired on their classmates; both students survived the massacre, according to Stephen K. McCrow, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety. McCrow said police made the “wrong decision” by delaying entry into the classroom and removing the shooter.
Born in 2012, Ameri grew up in Uwalde, surrounded by a large family of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. She hated dresses, loved Play-Doh, and ate at Chick-fil-A, her favorite restaurant. When she is not at school, she spends her days swimming and painting. He hoped to one day become a teacher of fine arts.
A spokeswoman for the South West Texas Girl Scouts told The Washington Post in an email that Ameri is a junior who joined the organization around Christmas 2021. On Friday, her family was presented with a Kelly green belt worn by Boy Scouts. , with a Bronze Cross affixed under the number of her army, 7000.
“She deserved it,” Ameri’s grandmother, Berlinda Areola, told People magazine, which was the first to break the news. “Our baby gave up his life for it, but she deserved it.”
In the days after Amery was killed, her fellow Girl Scouts paid tribute to her legacy. On Monday, at the Remembrance Day parade in Cranford, New Jersey, a group of brownies paraded with felt patches bearing the name of Ameri attached to their uniforms. On Tuesday, a squad in San Antonio wore purple, her favorite color, in her honor.
And when the crowd entered the church later that afternoon for Amery’s funeral, several scout girls appeared in the lobby to pay their respects.
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