A total of 221 Rye High School seniors celebrated graduation at Thursday night’s ceremony in Nugent Stadium. For a handful, the next step will be serving their country in the military.
Three members of the Class of 2026 were recognized by Rye’s City Council for their acceptance into West Point, along with a trio of Rye Country Day graduates who will also join military programs.
Rye High School seniors Michael Talbott, Sam Acciavatti, and Eddie Fernandes are all incoming Army cadets. They will be joined at West Point by Rye Country Day graduate Joseph Rafferty, an Army lacrosse commit.
Another 2026 RCDS graduate, Frank Zingg, will attend the Air Force Academy, while Aiden Harvey will join the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program at Virginia Tech.
“All the documentation and the interviews required over the course of the year show a tremendous amount of perseverance and courage, but you got in,” said Fred de Barros, commander of American Legion Post 128 in Rye. “This is no ordinary college. We’re talking about a crucible, a place that will push you and demand from you every day for years. But at the end, when you graduate, you will become part of an elite leadership that has been important in our history from the beginning.”
David Talbott, a Rye resident and West Point graduate, represented the academy at the City Council meeting, noting that this many Rye students joining the Army at the same time “is very impressive. That doesn’t happen. It might have never happened in history of Rye.”
Patricia Riley, a liaison officer with the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, attended the meeting to congratulate Zingg on his acceptance into the program.
“An appointment at the U.S. Air Force Academy is one of the most prestigious opportunities available to young leaders,” she said. “It is equivalent to a four-year, full scholarship, top-tier university, and valued at over $500,000.”
Riley said the academy receives thousands of applications from highly qualified young men and women across the country each year, selecting just 1,300 candidates for admission in 2026.
“That achievement alone speaks volumes about Frank’s exceptional accomplishments and potential,” she said. “He will soon join the Long Blue Line, a proud tradition of leaders who have served our nation with honor.”
Harvey, who was also recently recognized by the City Council for becoming an Eagle Scout, is headed to Blacksburg, Va., for Virginia Tech’s ROTC program.
“I was not in ROTC, but when I was in college, I had friends who were, and I fully appreciated the rigor they went through,” Nathan said. “The ability to be on a liberal arts campus and also be doing military training and have that discipline and the distraction of a large group of us who were not going through that was incredibly impressive to me.”
De Barros, who graduated from Pace University before serving in the Army from 1966 to 1969, recalled the common reaction he received when he was in the same shoes as Rye’s current military-bound students.
“People think, ‘You’ve got to be crazy to do this, to throw your life away to go to the military. What’s wrong with you?’” he said. “It’s impossible to explain it, but I knew why. I was inspired to go in because I wanted to be a part of something bigger than me, something important, something nationwide. That was the military. That’s my answer, and I assume that’s why you’re doing what you’re doing too.”
