El Paso twins pursue dreams of military careers at different academies

EL PASO, Texas - Eric and David Esqueda are twins. Both are native El Pasoans and both attended Silva Health Magnet High School. But that's where the similarities end. Eric is attending the U.S. Naval Academy while David is at West Point. They appeared together Monday on ABC-7 at Four.

The twins have an older brother, Adam, who attended the Naval Academy and is currently serving as a submarine officer in Charleston, South Carolina. Eric decided to follow in his older brother's footsteps and attend the Naval Academy to fulfill his high school dreams of being in the U.S. Marine Corps. "The Naval Academy commissions both Navy and Marine Corps officers," explained Eric, "so I felt that was the best bet to get a top-notch education while pursing that dream of mine."

Eric  graduated  with  academic honors from Silva in 2020. While in  high school, Eric received varsity letters in both baseball  and cross country,  was  involved  in  numerous  extracurricular activities  and  clubs, and accumulated  over 150 community  service  hours. Because  of his  performance  in  high school, Eric was nominated by Congresswoman  Veronica  Escobar and  received  his  appointment to the United States Naval Academy in February of 2020.

Eric  has  been  recognized  on the  Superintendent’s  and Commandant’s  Lists, the two highest  honors  awarded  to midshipmen  for excellence  in all  mission  areas.  Despite  the academic  and physical  rigor  of the  Naval  Academy, Eric  still  enjoys  being involved  in several extracurricular  activities.  He  is  a  member  of the  Latin  American  Studies Club,  the  Catholic Midshipmen’s Club, Catholic  Choir,  Marine  Corps  Martial  Arts  Program,  SWAT-C, and the Semper  Fi  Society’s  Marine  Corps  Training  Battalion.  His  favorite  part  of the  Naval  Academy so far  has  been having  the  opportunity to fly a  T-34 training  aircraft  and spending  a  month  with Marines  in  Camp  Pendleton, California,  this  past  summer.  

David said choosing to attend West Point boiled down to personal preference. "My whole life, I've wanted to serve in a ground combat capacity and I believe the Army offered me the best opportunity to do that," David said.

While at Silva, he participated  in  various clubs and  lettered  in  two varsity  sports.  He  also  was a  part  of  the school’s Pharmacy Technician  program,  which  allowed  him  to become  a  nationally  certified  Pharmacy Technician upon graduation. He  entered  the  United  States Military  Academy  at  West  Point in  the  summer  of  2020. Now  in his yearling (sophomore)  year  at  West  Point,  David is an  Environmental Engineering  Major,  participates in the West Point Catholic Choir,  and  has successfully  completed  Air  Assault  School.  He  intends to branch either Air Defense Artillery  or Armor upon graduation.