Identical Twins Have Soldiers Seeing Double
(July 20, 2009) |
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Levi Lyles, foreground, pins captain bars on his son, Derrick Lyles, while Lisa Lyles, background, pins captain bars on her husband and Derrick's twin brother, Darrell Lyles, during a promotion ceremony on Fort Polk, La. July 1, 2009. |
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FORT POLK, La., July 15, 2009
Don't
blame the soldiers here if you see them do a double take
when two of the unit's newest captains pass by.
Despite appearances, the soldiers of 10th Mountain
Division's 94th Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade
Combat Team are not seeing double -- they've just passed
identical twins Army Capt. Darrell Lyles, commander of E
Company, 94th BSB, and Army Capt. Derrick Lyles, commander
of F Company, 94th BSB.
The brothers pinned on their new bars during a promotion
ceremony here July 1.
Army Lt. Col. Anthony Coston, battalion commander, said the
only way most soldiers can tell the brothers apart is by looking at their left hands.
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"One's married and the other isn't,"
Coston said. "If Darrell ever stops wearing his wedding
band, we're in trouble."
Darrell was a platoon leader in F Company before moving to E
Company as commander, while Derrick was a platoon leader in
E Company before assuming command of F Company. Coston said
even he gets confused at times.
"They both have a habit of calling and saying, 'This is
Lieutenant Lyles sir, I've got a question,'" Coston said.
"Often, it's midway through the conversation before I figure
out which one I'm talking to."
Coston said he's mixed the twins up once -- that he knows
of. "It is a little bit of a challenge," he said.
As for the new captains, they both said they enjoy being
stationed with their sibling. "This is the best thing that
could happen because I've got a great friend that I can
bounce things off of and someone to hang out with," Darrell
said.
Both soldiers said they were influenced in their career
choice by their parents. Their father, Levi Lyles, spent
four years on active duty before becoming a minister, while
mother Wanda Lyles retired from the National Guard as a
master sergeant.
"I remember seeing my mom in uniform," Derrick said. "They
both brought a lot of discipline -- if pops said something
once, you did it."
Levi Lyles said he and his wife are concerned, but proud, of
the choice made by their sons.
"They went in when the war was going on," he said. "I never
said anything; they followed their heart, and I just ask God
to watch over them every day."
The twins said they were never tempted -- at least not too
much -- to fill in for the other, whether it was for class,
a date or during a meeting.
"It might have crossed our minds, but we would have never
done it," Derrick said. "Although we look alike, our
personalities are completely different. We would have been
caught."
Darrell's wife, Lisa, said there was one occasion when the
brothers attempted to pull the switcheroo on her, but she
outsmarted them.
"I had just started dating Darrell and was going to his
place to meet his brother," she recalled. "I knocked on the
door and I heard Darrell tell his brother, 'You answer the
door and tell her you're me.'"
"When I went in, they looked just alike so I didn't sit by
either one of them. Then I noticed that Darrell was wearing
the same pair of sweatpants I saw him in earlier in the
day."
"But if it hadn't been for that, it would have been tough.”
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Article and photo
by Chuck Cannon
Fort Polk public affairs office
Special to
American Forces Press Service
Copyright 2009 |
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