LOS ANGELES -- Staff Sgt. Daniel L. Norton and Sgt. Diana I. Aragon, two Camp Pendleton Marines, were among 15 servicemembers who appeared as contestants on “Wheel of Fortune” during tapings in Los Angeles Feb. 8.
Servicemembers from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard got the exclusive spin from the game show as it hosted “Wheel Salutes the Armed Forces,” scheduled to air the week of April 3.
“I still can’t believe that I’m here,” said Aragon, an intelligence analyst with Combat Logistics Regiment 1, 1st Marine Logistics Group. “I’ve watched the show faithfully ever since I was a little kid.”
The 21-year-old from Milwaukee is a devoted fan. She joined the Wheel Watchers Club a year ago, and it was through that outlet that she was selected by the show’s staff to audition as a contestant for the military appreciation week.
“I can’t wait to tell my husband that I (was on the show),” she said.
Her husband, Sgt. Thomas J. Aragon, 26, is currently serving in Ramadi, Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Her mother, Josefa Lennie, who was celebrating her birthday, was in the studio audience. Watching her daughter play on the show was a great way to celebrate her 47th, she said.
Norton, the information assurance chief with 9th Communication Battalion, I Marine Expeditionary Force, equally relished the chance to appear on the show.
“This is an incredible opportunity,” exclaimed the 37-year-old from Mt. Arlington, N.J. “I’ve always wanted to be on the show, and I was thrilled when I found out that I had been selected to be a contestant.”
Norton, an 11-year Marine who’ll deploy to Fallujah, Iraq, later this month in support of OIF, felt it was important for servicemembers to appear on the show.
“This spotlights the military at a time when the public needs to see and understand who we are and what we do,” he explained.
Norton and his wife, Elizabeth, who was in the studio audience, celebrated their ninth year of marriage that day, too.
“She’s very happy,” said an excited Norton.
After the taping, host Pat Sajak and Vanna White shared what it meant for them to be able to host the military appreciation.
“It’s a privilege for us to have members of the armed forces here competing,” said Sajak, a former Army soldier who served a year-and-a-half with Armed Forces Radio in Saigon, Vietnam, after enlisting in the Army in 1968.
White echoed his feelings.
“We’re proud to have men and women in uniform here competing on the show because it’s our way of saying ‘thank you,’” she said.
Harry Friedman, the show’s executive producer, thanked servicemembers for their service.
“We like to call ourselves ‘America’s’ game, and one way of earning that title is having Armed Forces Week,” he said. “We’re a game show, and we’re all about having fun; but we also want to show appreciation to the men and women in uniform. We recognize the sacrifices they are making.”