{"id":1400,"date":"2025-10-13T23:42:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T23:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/1400\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T23:42:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T23:42:07","slug":"coastal-bend-joins-in-celebrating-u-s-navys-250th-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/1400\/","title":{"rendered":"Coastal Bend joins in celebrating U.S. Navy\u2019s 250th anniversary"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Steve Banta at the USS Lexington Museum said Corpus Christi plays a key role in honoring the Navy\u2019s legacy as a WWII heritage site and proud military community.<\/p>\n<p>CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas \u2014 The U.S. Navy marked its 250th birthday Monday, and communities across the country, including right here in the Coastal Bend, joined in the celebration.<\/p>\n<p>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kiiitv.com\/article\/news\/local\/new-program-uses-dogs-to-ease-military-stress\/503-ba4ffced-e59a-4ad9-984c-24a0adfe4130\" class=\"cms__embed-related-story__link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">New NAS Corpus Christi program uses dogs to ease military stress<\/a><\/p>\n<p>From preserving history aboard the USS Lexington to inspiring the next generation of sailors, local leaders and future recruits are working to carry the Navy\u2019s legacy forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c250 is a very big deal,\u201d said Steve Banta, Executive Director of the USS Lexington Museum.<\/p>\n<p>Banta said Corpus Christi continues to play an important role in honoring that legacy as a World War II heritage site and prominent military community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis community down here in the Coastal Bend, this is one of the best places in the country for military support anyway, and supporting veterans and active duty,\u201d Banta said. \u201cIt\u2019s a big military town, a lot of Navy here, and so we\u2019re preserving the history of this ship alongside the city.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That pride in service starts early for many students in the area. At Flour Bluff High School, members of the Navy Junior ROTC program are charting their own courses toward military service.<\/p>\n<p>Senior Gabriel Graham said he hopes to attend the U.S. Naval Academy after graduation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wanted to build my leadership skills and open doors to new opportunities,\u201d Graham said. \u201cJoining the Naval Academy was a bigger challenge for me, I wanted to pursue my dream of flying in the Navy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Senior Naval Science Instructor Rocky Hulse has guided Graham and other cadets to multiple state and national championship victories through the school\u2019s NJROTC program.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have a strong military bond here in Flour Bluff with the base, with our military families, and it reflects in our program,\u201d Hulse said.<\/p>\n<p>That strong connection may be part of a larger trend. The U.S. Navy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navy.mil\/Press-Office\/Press-Releases\/display-pressreleases\/Article\/4221132\/us-navy-achieves-fy25-recruiting-goal-3-months-early\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">announced earlier this year<\/a> that it achieved its 2025 recruiting goal ahead of schedule, contracting more than 40,000 future sailors by June.<\/p>\n<p>Hulse said an increase in cutting-edge technology and a changing atmosphere have helped engage more recruits.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf the military feels that people don\u2019t support them, then lots of parents don\u2019t want their kids to go in,\u201d Hulse said. \u201cI think there\u2019s a different air, there\u2019s a different excitement, if you will, in support of the military, and that\u2019s a super positive thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This weekend, Naval Air Station Corpus Christi and Naval Air Station Kingsville will continue the celebration with a Navy Ball at the Hilliard Center on Oct. 18. The event will feature a formal dinner, guest speakers, military ceremonies and dancing, all in honor of the Navy\u2019s 250th anniversary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steve Banta at the USS Lexington Museum said Corpus Christi plays a key role in honoring the Navy\u2019s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1401,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[155,157,156],"class_list":["post-1400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-corpus-christi","tag-corpus-christi","tag-corpus-christi-headlines","tag-corpus-christi-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}