Congressman Jim Cooper’s office sponsored Academy Day at the Nashville Public Library this weekend. It gave prospective college students information on the military service academies like the Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy and West Point.
Most of the students that showed up on Saturday were young, white males, but there were a few minorities, and a few girls too. A surprising number were high school freshmen, including Ashley Binhlam-Dao who wants to go to the Naval Academy. Her mom, Catherine Binhlam says she’s not too worried about either of her girls going into the service after college.
“I realize that they are young and they’re still in eighth and ninth grade but we’re looking ahead and I feel that if the academies are willing to pay for their free education then certainly five years is not a long time to serve the country at all, especially when we’re at war and you know, the country needs the help of the young men and the women.”
Binhlam’s daughter Ashley, like many of the other students at the event, has two family members who attended armed service academies.
Recruitment is currently lagging in the armed services and National Guard, but outreach director for Congressman Cooper, Brenda Wynn, says Academy Day isn’t about recruiting young people to the service.
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM