WASHINGTON — During one of the ceremonies at Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday, all the service branches of the U.S. military were recognized when each branch had a flag bearer march out onto the steps of the Capitol building.
One of the members of the military carrying the colors for the U.S. Navy was Seaman Ethan Prilliman, a 20-year-old Hoosier and recent graduate of Mooreville High School.
“We had been briefed that we were going to be part of it for a while but we didn’t know which roles we were ever going to be a part of,” Prilliman told WISH-TV. “And, I didn’t find out I was going to be the Navy colors bearer until about two weeks ago.”
He thought his buddies in the Navy were joking when he first heard the news he would bear the colors of the U.S. Navy at the inauguration. Prilliman graduated from Mooresville back in 2019 and two weeks later was off to boot camp.
PHOTO: Ethan Prilliman/WISH-TV
He’s now stationed at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington. He said it was an honor to be chosen to carry the Navy colors at the ceremony.
“When we carry the Navy flag we are representing the whole Navy when we do that. It is not just our command the ceremony of the guard, it is the Navy in general,” Prilliman said.
Prilliman called a nerve-whacking experience given who was at the ceremony, not to mention the whole country watching on TV.
“I am not going to lie, my mom cried,” Prilliman said. “All my family saw me on TV. My sister even had it going on at her work.”
He said he took in the moment once he got his breathe.
