John LeCourt was in class at Parklane Academy earlier this year when he heard the principal’s voice over the loudspeaker:
“Midshipman LeCourt, please report to the office.”
Although the words were slightly muffled, and LeCourt wasn’t quite sure what to think, the 17-year-old knew when he stepped out of the classroom and saw his mother in the hallway, tears running down her cheeks, exactly what was going on.
“I just ran to her, kind of in slow motion — like that ‘Baywatch’ kind of run,” LeCourt recalled.
He’d been accepted to the U.S. Naval Academy.
And he was glad to be from McComb this year, especially, because LeCourt knew he wouldn’t be leaving home alone.
Parklane classmate John DeLee has been accepted to West Point, and McComb High School student Hal Niemeyer Jr. is going to the U.S. Air Force Academy.
Will Rust, who grew up in McComb, moved to Hattiesburg a couple of years ago and now lives in Budapest, Hungary, also received an appointment to West Point.
U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor nominated Rust, while Sen. Roger Wicker and U.S. Rep. Chip Pickering nominated DeLee, LeCourt and Niemeyer.
“It is very unusual,” said Steve Guyton, who works full-time for Pickering and Sen. Roger Wicker to help students in Mississippi secure appointments to the academies and scholarships at universities.
“I’d say this is the first time in six years that something like this has happened,” Guyton said of the McComb students’ appointments to military academies. “What they are doing is they will inspire other kids from McComb and Parklane to go. And to have three going speaks well for the public and the private schools in McComb.”
LeCourt is the son of Marie and Donald LeCourt, DeLee is the son of Wanda and Anthony DeLee, and Niemeyer is the son of Hank and Jackie Niemeyer, all of McComb.
The things that led them all to go through the rigorous process of getting nominated and appointed to the academies are as varied as the teens themselves.
LeCourt also was accepted to West Point but decided Annapolis was a better fit. He had always had wanted to go into the Navy. His grandfather had served in that branch, and it seemed the natural course for him, he said.
“Ever since I was 4 or 5, my mom would say, ‘Shoot for the stars. You can be anything,’ ” he recalled. “I just always assumed I would try to get into the (Naval) academy.”
DeLee’s future with the military wasn’t always so cut and dry. A member of the band throughout most of his schooling, the 18-year-old senior didn’t really decide until 10th grade that he wanted to attend a service academy. When he did, he jumped head first into soccer and track as well as band.
“It was about then that I knew I wanted to serve my country, and over time it just grew,” DeLee explained.
Niemeyer after meeting a cousin at family reunion who was a pilot, decided in seventh grade that there was nothing he wanted to do more than fly — except lead.
“After that, I researched it, I looked over it, and I wanted to be a pilot,” Niemeyer said. “And not just a pilot, but a pilot in the Air Force who actually goes and leads others. This is really more about being an officer and a leader.”
The appointments were a culmination of months, even years, of preparation for the teens. Guyton said the paperwork alone would be enough to cull many kids from the group, but he said that the McComb trio did all that was asked and more.
“Beast,” LeCourt said of the process. “A beast.”
Niemeyer agreed. “All summer, we had tons of forms to fill out, medical examinations, physical fitness tests, essays to write, tons of extracurricular things to do,” he said. “Everything you can name for college applications and more.”
But the key, they all said, was attending Boys State — and Guyton agreed.
The leadership conference, made up each year of about 400 boys from throughout the state who have just finished their junior year, teaches teens a lot about whether they’re suited for the service academies, he said. There also is a Girls State.
“We tell them, ‘No tea, no Coke, no coffee. Listen to classical music and read the Wall Street Journal, and your ACT will go up four points,’ ” Guyton said. “And most of those who get $350,000 appointments to the (service) academies and go on to be officers, go on to be your President Eisenhowers and go on to be our civic and community leaders.”
Guyton does all he can to help the kids. He doesn’t like dealing with parents too much, said Jackie Niemeyer.
“He wants to hear from the boys,” she said. “He wants them to make the effort. Otherwise, it’s just like Mom and Dad are trying to get them in.”
And Guyton’s efforts don’t stop after Boys State, DeLee said.
“He called me on prom night,” DeLee said with a laugh. “I was putting on my tuxedo pants, and he called and told me to be careful and not do anything dumb.”
“It was like, ‘If you need me to come down there and drive you, I will,’ ” added LeCourt, who was playing basketball when he received the call from Guyton. “And he would have.”
The three McComb teens will head out on different dates during the summer, but they’ll all be greeted with “I” Day, or induction day. And then they’ll get six weeks of basic training. No Mom or Dad, no time off the grounds. Just hard, steady, mostly grueling physical work. Rust will return to Mississippi briefly before heading to West Point.
Just like they couldn’t wait to get their nominations or appointments, the guys can’t wait to set foot on the campuses of their respective academies — or begin their careers. Their commitments to the military range from five to eight years once they complete the academies.
“A lot of our friends, they’re going off to four years of college, and then their lives start,” Niemeyer said. “Our lives start this summer.”
And he believes they’ll make the most of that opportunity and responsibility.
“I just know it’s a really big accomplishment for all four of us,” he said of the McComb trio and Rust. “Hopefully, we’ll serve our city well.”
