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CAMP SPANN, Afghanistan - These days, the heavy thing draped over
Sgt. Manolito (Manny) Molinos' shoulders is body armor. Same with
younger brother Spc. Mark Molinos, only he attaches a radio to it.
There was a time when the brothers from Alpha Company, 1st
Battalion, 294th Infantry Regiment, Guam Army National Guard,
carried the hopes of Guam on their shoulders. In some ways, they
still do, but just in a far different role.
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September 19, 2013 - Sgt. Manolito (Manny) Molinos, left, and brother Spc. Mark
Molinos of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 294th Infantry Regiment,
Guam Army National Guard, once carried the weight of Guam on their
soldiers as national athletes. Now they're serving their island and
country as soldiers in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
(U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. Eddie Siguenza)
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It's been more than a decade when Manny, Mark and older
brother Edgar were name stays of the Guam Weightlifting
Federation. They're one of a rare threesome of brothers to
represent Guam in an international sport, having done so in
the 1999 Guam-hosted South Pacific Games. A pair of
brothers? All too common for Guam, but a trio of siblings
involved in one sport doesn't happen often.
"It's pretty much Edgar who got us into this," said Mark from his
temporary Afghanistan home. "We saw he was doing pretty well in
weightlifting. He got us into it."
Now, before talking about
Mark and Manny and their current Operation Enduring Freedom mission,
Edgar and his influence has to be explained.. In the 1990s he was
Guam's golden child of weightlifting, representing the island at the
1992 Summer Olympics and successfully medaling at the 1991 Papua New
Guinea and 1995 Tahiti SPGs. Then Edgar led his brothers into the
'99 Games, prior to leading Manny into the 1994 and '98 Micronesian
Games.
Edgar, however, didn't lead his brothers into the
military. They did that on their own, and now Mark and Manny are
part of another successful "international" Guam team.
"Weightlifting and the military are totally different worlds," said
Manny, when asked if there are similarities between what he used to
do and what he does now. "You compete against athletes from other
nations in the sport. But out here, on deployment, you're competing
against life."
Manny, a team leader and electronics warfare
noncommissioned officer, is on his third OEF tour and fourth mission
overall. This is Mark's first OEF mission. Task Force Guam has about
30 family pairs on this mission, but the Molinos brothers are one of
the few sibling pairs in the same unit. Even more remarkably they
are not only in the same unit; they are in the same platoon.
"The advantage of that is the two brothers have themselves to fall
back on when they go through tough times. That definitely gives them
strength," said 1st Lt. Peter Guerrero, Alpha Company commander.
"But it's also a double-edged sword. If something happens, you don't
just take out one from the company, you take out two."
Mark
and Manny realize that. When they first arrived in country, they
avoided being on the same mission. If Mark goes out, Manny stays on
the compound, and vice versa. Yet unit manpower and responsibilities
have changed recently. Now they both roll on the same mission, but
just in different vehicles.
"It makes it easier knowing I
have family here, actual blood," Mark said. "In fact we've gotten a
lot closer than we've ever been. It's a little hard for our parents
to know we're both here at the same place, but having blood here
makes it a lot easier."
"Our families know the dangers of
being on the same unit, but they also understand the positives,"
Manny explained. "There's always going to be that older-brother
feeling. I always want to check how he's doing. Our families see the
positives to this, but they also know it's dangerous."
Mark,
30, is a radio operator. He's the youngest of five siblings. Manny,
37, is next youngest but already has served 11 years in the Guam
Guard.
In the 1990s, the Molinos name was synonymous with
Guam weightlifting. They brought more competitive success to Guam,
with only the Fejerans (siblings Pete and Melissa) rivaling them.
But the Molinos brothers are Guam's last weightlifting medalists in
any international competition. Manny's 1994 Oceania/South Pacific
Championships weightlifting title is still visible, as well as Manny
and Edgar's 1995 SPG medals.
After the Molinos brothers left
the sport, Guam's weightlifting program hasn't been the same. Guam's
hasn't won an SPG weightlifting medal in the 2003, 2007 and 2011
SPGs. Guam didn't even send a weightlifting team to the 2011 or 2005
SPGs.
"We tried to come back," Manny explained. "But a lot of
policies changed and a lot of other things changed the sport. That
kept us from coming back."
As the Molinos brothers faded
away, they befriended a young up-and-comer named Manuel Minginfel.
Originally from Yap, Minginfel spent some time lifting weights and
learning the sport at the Molinos' back yard, the brothers
explained. These days, Minginfel is the South Pacific's
weightlifting golden boy, as Edgar once was.
By U.S. Army National Guard Sgt. Eddie Siguenza
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2013
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