WEST SPRINGFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) - As The Big E kicked off the final week of the 2025 fair, the fairgrounds were the site of the swearing-in of new sailors who will be serving our country in the U.S. Navy.

It was a patriotic day for the new sailors as 15 recruits from western Massachusetts were sworn-in and pledged to defend our country’s shores both within the United States and abroad. Among those who took the oath was Holyoke’s Yanis Roman. “I’ve always been interested in the military, so it’s always caught my attention,” she said.

Roman’s attention is now heading into a new chapter as she is on the next part of her journey. She told Western Mass News she dealt with a wide range of emotions when she raised her right hand. “I was feeling nervous, excited, a lot of emotions,” she explain

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