ASHLAND, Neb. and ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — As the certificates of appreciation are presented, the applause was steady, and the message landed with the weight of a first salute: the community sees you, and it is proud of your choice to serve.
That feeling filled two Our Community Salutes ceremonies across the Navy Talent Acquisition Group Northern Plains area of responsibility, where families, neighbors and supporters gathered to recognize high school students who have enlisted in the U.S. armed forces, including Future Sailors preparing to start their Navy careers.
“Our Community Salutes is one of the first, if not the first, public recognition these young men and women receive for their decision to serve our nation,” said Nora Huscher, a Blue Star Mother and coordinator for Our Community Salutes. “It’s truly an honor to be one of the first to say, ‘Thank you.’”
Sponsored by the Blue Star Mothers of Nebraska, Chapter 2, the April 22 event in Ashland, Nebraska, celebrated local enlistees at a pivotal moment, after the oath, before training, when the decision is real but the journey is just beginning. The mission, Huscher said, is simple, honor those who have stepped forward and surround their families with support as the months of preparation and separation approach.
Blue Star Mothers, she added, plan to stay with families long after the ceremony ends.
“We will continue to support them from the home front with prayers, letters, care packages and moral support for their families,” Huscher said.
Among those recognized during the Ashland, Nebraska, ceremony was Phoenix Clark, a Future Sailor whose decision traces to family history and a clear-eyed look at what comes next.
“My grandpa served, and he talked about it a lot,” Clark said. “The Navy sounded like the best fit for me, and I want to use the opportunities to attend college to build my future.”
Clark said the community recognition was more than a photo moment. “I’m grateful,” he said. “It was a fantastic experience to be invited to something like this.”
For his parents, the ceremony brought pride and a new sense of shared experience with other families watching their children step into adulthood through military service.
“I’m insanely proud of him,” his mother, Ashley Clark, said. “He has an amazing future ahead and incredible adventures waiting for him.”
His father, Bryan Clark, said he has confidence in his son’s judgment and direction. “With Phoenix, we’ve never had to worry,” he said. “He’s always made the right decisions.”
Ashley Clark said seeing other enlistees and meeting their parents made the moment feel both personal and collective.
“It was awesome to see other kids about to start their journeys, and it was amazing to meet other parents in the same situation we’re in,” she said. “We’re in this together as we watch our kids make these decisions and be on their own for the first time in their lives. An event like this brings us closer together.”
That same theme carried through another Our Community Salutes ceremony in Rock Island, Illinois, where Cirina Lucas of Mid-Prairie High School in Wellman, Iowa, was recognized as she prepares to ship as a Future Sailor.
Lucas said her decision grew from both inspiration and interest. Including the example of her older sister, Carolyn, who had joined the Navy a few years prior.
“My sister joined, and I always wanted to, too,” Lucas said. “I’d heard good things about the Navy, and I feel like it provides a lot of great opportunities.”
Lucas said she is entering the Navy as a CTI (cryptologic technician interpretive), a path she believes matches her passion for languages and culture.
“CTI is a perfect fit for me,” she said. “I’m excited to learn a new language and experience new cultures. I feel like there isn’t much you can’t do in the Navy.”
Her mother, Paula Lucas, said their family’s confidence comes from experience from earlier interactions with Navy recruiters in the region.
“We have a lot of trust in the Navy,” she said. “We’ve been through this before with our older daughter, and the recruiters proved to us that they will take care of them [her daughters].”
For families, the public recognition can also steady nerves that come with big change. Paula Lucas said the event helped reinforce that her daughter is not alone in choosing service.
“I love it,” she said. “It allows her to see she’s not alone in her decision.”
Her father, Nate Lucas, said the ceremony provides something many enlistees need before they ever arrive at Recruit Training Command; visible and vocal support.
“It encourages and reinforces the kids’ decisions to join the armed forces,” he said. “There’s an abundance of support, and it shows they’re not alone.”
For Lucas, the effect was immediate. She said the ceremony did not just celebrate her future and decision to join, but it helped her visualize it by seeing senior service members in their uniforms.
“It helps me feel pride in service a lot more with the outpouring of support from the local community,” she said. “It makes me more confident in my choice.”
Seeing service members from different branches also made the goal feel tangible, she said, not abstract or far away.
“Seeing all the different branches represented, with badges and ribbons on their uniforms, helps me see my future,” Lucas said. “It gives me more pride in my choice to know that I’ll be like that one day.”
Organizers and families said that is the point, offering a first public “thank you,” while connecting enlistees to the larger community they represent as they prepare to earn the title “Sailor.”
Huscher said the ceremonies are meant to send future service members forward with support that lasts beyond the applause.
“They’re making a courageous decision,” Huscher said. “We want them [future service members] and their families to know their community is behind them.”
| Date Taken: |
05.21.2026 |
| Date Posted: |
06.23.2026 13:55 |
| Story ID: |
568398 |
| Location: |
ROCK ISLAND, ILLINOIS, US |
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15 |
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This work, Community pride meets Navy opportunity at Our Community Salutes ceremonies, by PO1 Fred Gray IV, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
