Mother and daughter serve side by side on Navy ship

Racquel McCray and her mother, Tonya McCray, formed an even closer bond while spending four weeks working alongside one another on board the Navy's USS Gerald R. Ford.

Both of Racquel's parents are in the Navy, but she told Good Morning America they never pressured her to enlist. "I chose to join because I watched my parents for my entire life," she said. "They both served, so watching them every day go to work made me actually want to follow in their footsteps, with how successful they were and what they were able to provide for my sister and I."

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"I was able to share what I did with my daughter every day," Tonya told GMA. "She saw what respect that someone of my pay grade gets on a day to day, how they look up to me, and it just felt great to be able to share that experience with her, and also, just to see her hard work." Racquel said the "great experience" she had on the ship made it clear she chose the right specialty, and "it was really nice to be able to see the benefits of all of [my mom's] hard work, how people looked up to her and respected her."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.