“Cadet Samuel D. Reineberg, for exceptionally heroic actions, while serving as a cadet at the Old Dominion University while responding to an active shooter incident and life-threatening emergency on 12 March, 2026. In the face of extraordinary danger and with total disregard to his own personal safety, Cadet Reineberg displayed incredible courage under extreme circumstances. His selfless service and personal courage are in keeping with the finest traditions of military service.”
“It was like I was working on him. I don't know how to, if it's survivor's guilt, but yeah. Not revive him, keep him alive, stop the bleeding. Yeah, get him out of there. So, the family, it's just seeing the family. And then after the Sergeant Major of the Army and Secretary of the Army said their words about that day, the family came up to me.”
Survivors struggle with complex emotional aftermath
“It's been up and down, but through everything, I'm still grateful. When I've not been busy, it's when my mind gets busy, you know. It comes and goes in terms of like thinking about it, and not thinking about it. But I've seen all of them. Yeah, they're in good spirits.”
Multiple cadets received high-level military honors
“It wasn't just me, it was the other five of us, six of us that were up there, them going through the same thing with the team. The one guy who got awarded, he actually had his awards, his Purple Heart, his Meritorious Service Medal given to him in his hospital room by the Secretary of the Army and the Sergeant Major of the Army.”
“I was in the Army. I enlisted out of high school, served aboard the Logistics Support Vessel LSV-5, and later became the first Leading Seaman of the Maneuver Support Vessel Light. I then earned a Division Commander's Green to Gold Scholarship in 2023, transitioning to become an Army Officer candidate. It's been a wild ride.”
