When Nikita Jacobs learned her twin son and daughter had decided to join the Marines after graduating from Heritage, she did what any dedicated mom would do — she took a deep breath and dived in to support her children and the military community as much as she possibly could.
Jacobs had not come from a military background nor did she grow up in a military family. Now this Blue Star mom is not only a 110 percent supporter of her children’s military careers, she has also taken on the role of den mother to other young Marines whose families have cut them off or neglected them because of their decision to join the military.
In their senior year, Jia and Jacolby Harris, Class of 2011 at Heritage, were on track to attend college - or so their mom thought.
She had urged them to join the MJROTC program “just to follow up what I was teaching them at home,” on things like responsibility and fiscal management. Her children thrived in the program and Jacobs even became the president of the Heritage JROTC booster club.
Still, becoming a Marine was the last thing Jacobs expected for her daughter, a girly girl who loved dancing and modeling, and her quiet, thoughtful son.
But one day, as she was asking them about college options, Jacolby announced, “College is everybody else’s broken dream. I’m going to join the Marines.”
Jia said she had decided to join as well.
After playing devil’s advocate to make sure her children had thought through their decision carefully, the JROTC booster club mom began absorbing and researching as much as she could. Heritage’s JROTC instructor Master Gunnery Sgt. Paul Mackey and the twins’ recruiter Quami Williams were key in guiding her through the process, she said, and eased her anxieties by providing information.
Jia and Jacolby became the first twins to enlist and finish the Parris Island Marine Corps boot camp together in November 2011. They graduated at the top of their class, said Jacobs, beaming with pride.
The inability to communicate with their kids during boot camp was tough for Jacobs and the other moms she kept in touch with. She was used to constant communication and would write five letters a day because she heard "letters are like gold" to the kids going through boot camp.
Jacobs learned there were other Marines in her kids’ platoons who had nobody to write to them during this tough time and whose names never rang out during mail call. She found out their families sometimes simply neglected to write them or, in other situations, they had been cut off from their family because of their decision to join the military. This big-hearted mother began writing letters for those kids, too, to encourage them. To this day, she still keeps in touch with them and buys extra gifts at Christmas time or holidays for them.
She began to see the strong sense of community that existed in the military and the values instilled in young Marines, such as loyalty, unity, keeping your bearing, and looking out for one another.
“The camaraderie, the fact they survived (boot camp) and made it, I think that bonds them together.”
Jacobs has also kept in touch with the parents of other Heritage graduates who have joined the military. And she’s gradually become more involved with the veterans’ community locally at the American Legion Post 77.
Jacobs and her husband Howard own several businesses, including a conveyor belt company and commercial property management company. They have another son, Jamal, 18, who will be graduating from Heritage this year, and is considering the Navy. Twelve-year-old Jazmyn is a sixth grader at Davis Middle.
The Blue Star Mothers of America is a national program that recognizes the unique role and sacrifice by mothers of military men and women.
