Ashleigh's Navy Promotion and Commissioning
May 17, 2024
On Friday Ashleigh was scheduled for an event called "Tulane & LSU Medical Graduate Promotion Ceremony" at New Orleans National WWII Museum at 10AM. With Jeff driving our Sienna van, we loaded Rod & Brenda, Darla and Elyse, and picked up Judy Moyle on the way.
 | Jeff drove to New Orleans and picked up Ashleigh in her dress Navy Uniform at her residence on Allen Toussaint Blvd. We had driven by her location on Wednesday after the Graduation event when we went to visit Jordan and Luke's house. |
| Jeff dropped the family off at the World War II Museum. We were pleased that he was driving to navigate downtown New Orleans. |  |
 | Brenda and Ashleigh in the theater named "BB's Stage Door Canteen" which was decorated with large historical photos of events during World War II. |
Three new Medical School graduates were to be promoted and commissioned as Lieutenants in the US Navy:
- Ashleigh Nave: Family Medicine, Marine Corps Base - Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, California
- Malia Steele: Emergency Medicine, Navy Medical Center- Portsmouth, Portsmouth, Virginia
- Christopher Saker: Orthopedic Surgery, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland
Colonel Kulis led them in their oath of office. Jordan and Luke have a front-row view. |
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 | The parents are called to the stage to help with the ceremony. Jeff and Darla affix the shoulder insignia on Ashleigh's uniform. They indicate the rank of Lieutenant with a star and two bars. They are sometimes called "Hard Shoulder Boards". |
The three new Lieutenants with Commander Kulis. He had given an inspirational talk about his own experiences and encouraged them to a life of service. |
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 | Time for a family picture as the reception starts. |
The three new Lieutenants get to cut the Congratulations cake. |
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 | The three new Doctors with the military staff who conducted the celebration. |
As a final photo for the reception, we got the whole family on the stage with the flag. Elyse, Darla, Ashleigh, Jeff, Jordan, Luke.
On the stage wit Mom Darla and Dad Jeff, a proud time of great accomplishment and new beginnings for Ashleigh. |
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After the remarkable reception at the World War II Museum, we moved to the courtyard for some family pictures.
 | The courtyard was a good place to get photos of Ashleigh in her beautiful full dress uniform. It displayed nicely the attractive shoulder insignia of her new rank of Lieutenant in the US Navy. We started with a photo with her two Grandmothers, Brenda Nave and Judy Moyle. |
Ashleigh with sister Jordan. |
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 | Ashleigh with sister Elyse. |
Ashleigh with Dad and Mom, Jeff and Darla. |
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 | Ashleigh with Dad Jeff. |
Ashleigh with Mom Darla. |
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 | Ashleigh with longtime friend Rebekkah Alphonso. Ashleigh and Becky have shared an apartment on Allen Toussaint Blvd for the past few months, and Becky has joined the family for a number of recent events. |
Ashleigh with sisters Jordan and Elyse. |
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 | A group of Vietnam veterans visiting the Museum wanted their picture taken with Ashleigh. |
After our family group of ten had explored the Museum for a time, we decided to have lunch at the restaurant in the Museum. At the same time we were waiting for a table, this group of nine Vietnam veterans was also waiting. They had made it a practice to return to the World War II Museum as a group every year for the past few years. Being Vietnam veterans put them in Rod's age group, so they were likely in their 80's and one spoke of turning 90. They took note of Ashleigh's uniform and one of them came over to our group to ask if they could have a group photo with Ashleigh.
We enjoyed our lunch together as a pleasant conclusion to a memorable conclusion to the impressive Commissioning ceremony at the National World War II Museum.
 | The LSU Medical School provided a recognition document. We received a copy of it in early July. |
| The Trip to California for Ashleigh and Jeff |