Courtesy Photo | Thomas Yuhaniak celebrates living out his boyhood dreams at his May 27, 2011,...... read more read more
Subscribe
Thomas Yuhaniak knew when he was just 5 years old what he wanted in life: to become a pilot, then ultimately, an astronaut. But it was when he was in fourth grade, and his family visited the U.S. Naval Academy here during a vacation to Washington, D.C., that Yuhaniak laid eyes on the Freedom 7 space capsule at the academy’s visitor center and sealed his decision to go Navy.
Today, Yahaniak moved a step closer to his dream as he joined 1,005 other Naval Academy graduates who received commissions in the Navy and Marine Corps. As a new Navy ensign, Yahaniak is among 225 graduates headed to Naval Flight School at Pensacola, Fla.
“This is always what I have wanted to do,” he said as he prepared to march onto the field at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium to receive his commission and degree in aerospace engineering. Now, he said, his task is to build on the education and leadership experience gained during four years at Annapolis.
“I am going to take it to the fleet and be the best officer I can,” he said.
Nicholas Hanson of Monmouth, N.J., is among 260 members of the Class of 2011 commissioned today into the Marine Corps. It’s a decision Hanson said came easily; his brother is an Army Ranger deployed to Afghanistan’s Logar province, and Hanson hopes to follow his example as a Marine Corps officer.
It’s a calling he said he’s been preparing for, academically as well as mentally. He majored in Arabic and Middle Eastern studies and studied Arabic for the past four years at the Naval Academy. Now, he plans to continue those language studies in Morocco under a State Department scholarship program before deploying to the combat theater.
The biggest lesson Hanson said he learned at the Naval Academy, and that he plans to take to the Corps, is the importance of the unit over self. Individual achievements -- being first in his high school graduating class and its football team’s most valuable player, among them -- fade in importance at the academy, he said.
“After graduation, nobody cares about you as an individual,” he said. “It’s not about you. It never is and never will be about you. It is about those above you and under you and around you.”
Story by Donna Miles, American Forces Press Service
| Date Taken: | 05.26.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 07.03.2025 14:38 |
| Story ID: | 513168 |
| Location: | WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 0 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Academy Grads Look to Future of Service, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
