Five Brothers Make Navy Their Family Business
(June 24, 2009) |
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| AL ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq, June 18, 2009 –
For five brothers from a small town in Kentucky, serving in
the military is a family tradition.
Chief Petty Officer Chad Roberts, Petty Officers 1st Class
Jody and Dwayne Roberts, and Petty Officer 2nd Class Chris
Roberts are brothers who serve in the Navy and with the same
unit -- Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 24, a Seabee
unit based out of Lexington, Ky. Their brother, Bruce,
retired from the Navy in 2006.
Chad and Chris, both steelworkers, and Dwayne, a
construction electrician, are deployed to western Anbar
province in Iraq. Jody, also a steelworker and the youngest
boy out of seven children, did not deploy overseas with his
brothers, but supports them while they are gone.
“I pray for their safety and their well-being every day,” he
said. “I am very proud of Dwayne, Chad and Chris. I wish I
could have joined them in Iraq, but as things happen, there
was a reason God chose me to stay behind.” |
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| Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Chris Roberts holds a photo of him, his four brothers and his son, a Marine, while taking a break from his duties in the battalion's steel shop at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, June 3, 2009. |
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Although they can't always be in the same
place at the same time, the bond the brothers share is
unbreakable. Their sacred connection to each other was
formed when they were growing up on the family farm about 85
miles outside of Louisville. Just like other American boys
living in Small Town USA, the Roberts brothers showed their
love for each other by beating up one another, competing to
see who could jump the highest on their bikes, and playing
baseball on the baseball diamond that their father, Millard,
created just for his boys.
Bruce Roberts said one of his favorite childhood memories
was beating the ‘unbeatable' Sorgho Reds in baseball. “Most
of my brothers were on the team, and Dad was the coach,”
Bruce said. “We were very competitive.”
The brothers' childhood dreams included the possibilities of
becoming a professional baseball player, a veterinarian or
even a farmer. Never did any one of them imagine that he,
much less all of the brothers -- would join the Navy. But
fate and their overwhelming love for the country drew them
to where they are now.
Dwayne, the oldest of the siblings, was the first to join
the Navy, in 1984. He didn't join seeking excitement or to
just have a 9-to-5 job, but rather to achieve his aspiration
for a higher education and to satisfy his desire to serve
his country.
“I wanted to get educated and serve my country,” he said. “I
was already married, [but] couldn't afford to go to college,
because my wife and I were both ‘bringing home the bacon' so
to speak.”
Dwayne's younger brothers, Chad and Jody, joined the Air
Force in 1984 and 1986, respectively. After completing their
obligated four years of service, they left the Air Force,
and Dwayne finished his four years in the Navy. More than 10
years passed before any of them thought of putting on a
military uniform again.
Then, on Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists attacked America.
“It was the straw that broke the camel's back,” Chris, the
middle child of the family, said of the tragedy. “I didn't
like the fact that we were attacked on our own soil in the
U.S. I knew I had to do something.”
Exactly two weeks after the attack, he raised his right hand
and swore to support and defend the United States as a
member of the Navy Reserve. Dwayne, Chad and Jody already
had re-enlisted months before the attack.
“To do something like serving in the military is the most
honorable thing one can do for their country,” Jody Roberts
said. “Everyone needs to fight for the freedom of our
country -- stand up, do your duty, and do it with honor,
courage and commitment. That is the backbone of our military
and a code we live by.”
The only opportunity for all five brothers to be in one
location while serving in the Navy came in 2003, when Chad,
Jody, Dwayne and Chris were at the Fleet and Industrial
Supply Center in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, but Bruce was unable
to get orders there.
The Roberts brothers attribute their enthusiasm for service
to the love and support they've received from their own
families and their local community in Kentucky.
“Our community is very supportive,” Chad Roberts said. “We
all live in a small town of roughly 600 people, so everybody
helps out our wives and watches out for our kids at school
and around town.”
Their father and their mother, Barbara, are especially
supportive and proud of the sacrifices that their sons are
making for their country. They never tried to talk any of
them out of joining the military, and they were not
surprised when they finally joined.
“I prayed all the years they were growing up that they would
never have to be involved in a war, but I know that this is
God's will,” she said. “I know that God will protect them
and sustain us.”
Barbara added that love for God and each other are why her
children are so close.
“We taught them to stand together in whatever they did and
to support each other through life,” Barbara Roberts said.
“They are not only brothers, [but also are] friends.”
The deep connection the brothers have with each other and
the Navy is something they hope to pass on and already have
begun to sow the seeds of brotherly love and commitment into
their sons – Chris' son is a Marine, while Bruce's son
followed his father's footsteps into the Navy. Family
get-togethers, they all agree, bring them even closer.
“We grew up as a close family doing the usual family
vacations,” Chad Roberts said. “My mom and dad both have
close families, so it was second nature to us. We all went
into the military, but after our service was over, we all
returned to our small town we grew up in to raise our own
families there. So now we drill together, go camping
together, and just spend time together.”
These days, the Roberts brothers may not get to spend as
much together as they would like or get to see each other
every day as they used to back home in Kentucky, but they
never forget that they are a band of brothers, in family and
in arms.” | |
Article and
photo by USMC GSgt. Katesha Washington
2nd Marine Logistics Group
Special to American Forces Press Service
Copyright 2009
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