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Staff Sgt. James K. Donnelly, a maintenance chief with 1st
Maintenance Battalion (Forward) (left), 1st Marine Logistics Group,
and Major Nathaniel A. Baker, a pilot with 3rd Marine Air Wing (Fwd)
(right), congratulate their brother, Sgt. Thomas M. Baker, an
embarkation specialist with I Marine Expeditionary Force (Fwd),
after his promotion ceremony at Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, May
1, 2012. The three brothers, from Bowling Green, Ky., had the
opportunity to meet up on Camp Leatherneck regularly when all three
were deployed to Afghanistan at the same time. Courtesy Photo
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CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan (8/8/2012) – What do a pilot, motor
transportation mechanic and an embarkation specialist deployed to
Afghanistan have in common? For three Marines the answer is simple,
they are brothers.
Gunnery Sgt. James K. Donnelly, a
maintenance chief with 1st Maintenance Battalion (Forward), 1st
Marine Logistics Group; Sgt. Thomas M. Baker, an embarkation
specialist with I Marine Expeditionary Force Forward; and their
brother Maj. Nathaniel A. Baker, an EA-6B Prowler pilot with 3rd
Marine Aircraft Wing Forward had the opportunity to meet up on Camp
Leatherneck regularly, when all three were deployed to Afghanistan
at the same time.
Thomas was even promoted by two of his
brothers to sergeant, during a ceremony on Camp Leatherneck, May 1.
“It was an honor and a privilege to have them out here with me
on this deployment,” said the youngest Baker, a Bowling Green, Ky.,
native. “To have both of them promote me, it was just amazing. It
was a very special time for me, and I believe it was a special time
for them as well. I wouldn't trade it for the world.”
“It was
pretty cool,” said Donnelly. “Not everybody has that opportunity.”
Although Nathaniel has already returned home, the brothers got
together to catch-up whenever they got a chance when all three were
here.
“I always see Sgt. Baker at least once a week for a
couple hours, and we just hang out or watch a movie,” said Donnelly.
“(Maj. Baker) was only here for about a |
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six-week period and he was always flying, but we went out to eat and
spent some time together.” |
The Bakers followed in their stepbrother's footsteps
after Donnelly joined the Marine Corps right after high
school.
“I left for boot camp when I was 18,” said
Donnely. “Sgt. Baker was about 7 years old at the time, and
Maj. Baker lived with his father and stepmother. He was
going to college then.
Several years later, after
Thomas joined the Marine Corps, Donnelly met up with his
younger brother while they were both training on the East
Coast.
“We met back up again when I was going to
staff academy in Augusta, (Ga.),” said Donnelly. “At the
time Pfc. Baker was going to (military occupational
specialty) school nearby on Camp Johnson. I would bring him
home on weekends.”
In the future, the trio plans on
returning to Kentucky where they will buy a farm and live
and work together.
“At some point all of us plan on
buying a big farm back home in Kentucky,” said Thomas.
“We're going to build a house on the property, and we talk
about that.”
The brothers are proud of each other and
are happy to have had the once in a lifetime opportunity to
be deployed together.
“I cannot think of anything
else I could be doing out here that I could be more proud
of,” said Thomas. “I have to appreciate everything they do
because it's one team, one fight.”
By USMC Cpl. Kenneth Jasik
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2012
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