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No doubts: these plebes are here to stay

by Martha Thorn
Trident Managing Editor

"He loves it. This is the place he wants to be. He definitely needs to be here."
That's what Joe Rocha of Tomball, Texas, said about his son, Midn. 4/C Daniel Rocha.
Many families and friends visiting the Naval Academy Class of 09's Parents' Weekend echoed those sentiments. For some parents, the ones whose children had to go that extra mile to enter the academy, the words were fraught with meaning.
Joe and Rosa Rocha ranked among those parents who supported their son when they understood the depth of his commitment to entering the academy.
When Daniel was 12 years old, his family was setting their one, five and 10-year goals. Daniel's goal was to visit Annapolis. He called the Naval Academy Admissions Office and found out the times of the admissions briefings and orientations.
"They wouldn't give him an application. He was too young," Rosa laughed, "but he went through the briefing, and he told them, 'I'll be back.'"
Standing in Bancroft Hall's Rotunda, 12-year-old Daniel said, "Can't you feel it mom? Can't you feel all that history? All those people who've come before us?"
From that first visit on, Daniel never deviated from his goal to enter the academy. He played football, became an Eagle Scout, joined his high school's Navy ROTC unit, took on leadership positions, and studied hard. Every two years, Daniel, his parents, and his brother, David, visited the academy.
When he attended the Naval Academy Summer Seminar, he called his mom and said, "Mom, remember how I always wanted to come to the academy? Now, I know I want to be here."
Plan B didn't exist for Daniel. Scoring in the top two percent of Hispanic students on his Scholastic Aptitude Test, he received two boxes of college materials, including applications from Vanderbilt, Yale, Rice and Texas A&M.
His sight remained firmly fixed on the academy. A football injury prevented him from entering the academy after his high school graduation, but he entered a program called Greystone at Schreiner University in Kerrville, Texas.
Established in 2004 by retired Navy Cmdr. David Bailey, the program helps prepare high school graduates for the service academies. Of the first five program graduates, three entered the Naval Academy June 29.
The other two graduates entering the Naval Academy were Midns. 4/C William Israel, son of Dean and Jane Israel of Wheaton, Ill., and Aaron Marshall, son of Les and Paula Marshall of Waco, Texas.
The Israels first met Bailey in 2000 when they attended their son, Matt's, Parents' Weekend at the Naval Academy. Bailey, who graduated from the academy in 1981 and taught at the academy from 1999 to 2003, was manning the systems engineering booth in Dahlgren Hall.
Their friendship flourished during Matt's years at the academy and at one point, when the friends were having dinner at Galway Bay on Maryland Avenue, Bailey broached his idea of starting a preparatory program for the service academies. The Israels joked about William being one of the first students in the program.
When William wasn't accepted into the academy, a Plan B was already in place. A spot was waiting for him in the Greystone program. "He was crushed," his parents recalled, "although within one hour, he had bounced back and set his sights on completing the Greystone program and reapplying to the academy."
The preparation paid off and this year, the Israels again found themselves in Dahlgren Hall as they attended William's Parents' Weekend. As they walked by the systems engineering booth, Dean couldn't resist giving Bailey a call. "I called him from the floor of Dahlgren Hall and said we needed to talk to someone about systems engineering," he laughed.
All jokes aside, William had wanted to enter the academy since the eighth grade when he and his brother, Matt, watched the movie, Top Gun. A 2004 academy graduate, Matt is now at Flight School at Corpus Christi, Texas, and William is now getting ready for the beginning of classes at the Naval Academy Monday.
"He has devoted his life to getting here," said Dean, who noted that William was a four-year varsity swimmer who also excelled academically.
Aaron Marshall has also spent most of his life thinking about the academy. When he was 5 years old, his mom said he talked about building rafts and going on the ocean. When he was 8 years old, he talked about flying and landing on an aircraft carrier.
When he was offered a full ROTC scholarship to attend Texas A&M, he turned it down to attend the Greystone program and receive additional preparation for entering the academy.
"I would have the same rank, but the wrong ring," he told his mom.
A cross country runner and an actor in his hometown's civic theater, he has fallen in love with sailing at the academy and also aspires to join the Naval Academy Glee Club.
These three plebes worked hard to gain admission into the academy. One of the hardest parts of the summer for them has been seeing some of their classmates leave.
"That year at Greystone made them a better fit for the academy," Paula Marshall said. "Any questions and any doubts or misgivings they had about the academy, they dealt with last year. They knew what they were getting into and they were prepared."
Joe Rocha said the three were also very competitive. "One motivates the other," he said. "They compete among themselves with each forcing the other to do their best. What they have is more than a friendship. They lean on each other, because what they share is not just for this one year. In the future, their lives may depend on each other."
"They share a sense of patriotism and a desire to serve," Dean Israel said.
"It's all about service," Rosa Rocha agrees. "Serving his country has always been at the top of Dan's list. He wants more than just graduating from the academy. He wants a career of service."

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