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Navy Fathers, Daughters Share Special Military Bond

Carla Babb

   PENTAGON - When coronavirus precautions forced the U.S. Naval Academy
   to cancel graduation ceremonies last month, Class of 2020 Ensign
   Francesca Browne didn't let that stop her from marking the occasion.

   She turned to her dad, Rear Admiral (Sel.) Putnam Browne, and asked him
   to commission her at the Abraham Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

   "Lincoln means so much to our family," the admiral told VOA, because
   Lincoln's Navy namesake, the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, is
   the ship he commanded -- and the vessel where his daughter joined him
   for her Naval Academy cruise.

   The pair and their family stood alone at the historic memorial on that
   rainy but celebratory morning. Both raised their right hands, and
   Browne administered the oath of office to his daughter, a moment she
   said was "heartfelt" and perfect.

   "I definitely choked up," she said.

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