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A Heartfelt Bond At the Corps
Sponsor Penny Vahsen, aka Mrs. V, gives senior safety James Polanco a kiss goodbye after she gave cooking lessons to midshipmen in her home.
(Photos By Michel Du Cille -- The Washington Post)
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Barbara made homemade hamburger pizza, salad and lemonade, and McGown's favorite dessert: vanilla and coffee ice cream pie drizzled with caramel and hot homemade fudge sauce.
"Usually, I don't tell anyone it's my birthday because the only thing that happens is guys [joke] about it in the locker room," McGown said. "It's not like you can throw a party here."
After McGown had surgery to repair a broken left arm suffered against Duke on Oct. 1, he spent five days at the McKinneys with his mother, Sue, who flew in from Houston.
"It's like they put their life on hold for me," McGown said. "There, you don't have to worry about sleeping on a hard mattress or getting woken up at 6:30 in the morning. There are times that I needed someone to talk to and they were there. Like the second semester of my plebe year. I was thinking about quitting because it was just too hard, and they made me realize why I should stay. I really don't know what would have happened if I didn't have them to talk to."
"Jeremy grew up in a very close knit and nurturing family," Sue McGown said. "So when I heard that he had a sponsor, I was a little worried about why he needed one. But as soon as I met the McKinneys, I could see how sincere they were about helping Jeremy, and as a mother, it's always good when you have people like them looking out for your son."
Bill McKinney, captain of the 1970 football team and currently the head pastor at Mariners Church, and his wife began sponsoring midshipmen when they moved to Arnold in 1997, when their three sons attended the Academy.
Vahsen, Davis and the McKinneys are all heading to Philadelphia on Saturday to watch their Midshipmen play in the Army-Navy game. But they all said they would be back at home Sunday, in case any of the midshipmen they sponsor need a ride or a meal or a place to rest.
"We don't even keep track of the money we spend because it doesn't matter; being a sponsor is just the right thing to do, and it's a relationship that will last a lifetime," Barbara McKinney said. "The young men who attend the Naval Academy are dedicating a good part of their lives to serving our country and risk their lives for it."
