Congresswoman Lori Trahan hosted a ceremony this week to nominate students from across the Third District to United States Service Academies.
Trahan nominated students to the United States Military Academy at West Point, United States Naval Academy, United States Air Force Academy and United States Merchant Marine Academy.
“It’s one of my greatest honors and most serious responsibilities to nominate outstanding young men and women from our district to our nation’s service academies,” said Trahan. “These students are driven by something bigger than themselves—by a desire to serve, to lead, and to contribute to the common good. Their commitment to country and community inspires hope for the future of our armed forces and our nation.”
West Point nominees included Samuel Richenburg of Haverhill, St. John’s Prep; Raily Romano Hidalgo of Haverhill, Haverhill High School; and Hieu-Shawn Phan of Methuen, Northeastern University—Liberty Battalion Army ROTC. To the Naval Academy, among those Trahan nominated were John James Rubera of Haverhill, a student at Haverhill High School.
Student nominees were interviewed and recommended by volunteer members of Trahan’s Service Academy Board, which is composed of academy alumni, veterans and community leaders. They include Chelmsford Select Board member Pat Wojtas, the first woman in Massachusetts to be commissioned to the Air Force through the ROTC program at UMass Amherst; Leanne Collazo, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and West Point graduate; Chelmsford School Committee member John Moses, an Army veteran; Harold Naughton Jr., a Major in the Army Reserve, who previously represented the 12th Worcester District in the Massachusetts House; David Cote: a Marine Corps veteran and graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy; and Paulette Joyce, a retired Westford teacher who advocates for veterans following the passing of her husband, Army Lt. Col. Fred Joyce.