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MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII - With childlike wonder and
anticipation shining in his light-brown eyes, 2-year-old
Jaylen looks up at his mother, JaLisa, as she pours melted
chocolate into a dinosaur mold. JaLisa pauses to look at her
only child while they sit in miniature chairs around a tiny
children's table in their comfortable dining room.
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Sgt. Kendall Joseph and Sgt. JaLisa Joseph cook dinner together
in their house on Marine Corps Base Hawaii, March 11, 2013. The
Joseph family has fought hard for harmony with determination to
succeed as Marines and husband and wife. Photo by Lance Cpl. Suzanna Lapi
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Jaylen's eyes should have been one pair in a set of three
looking back at his mother around that table.
However, she miscarried twins while her husband, Sgt.
Kendall Joseph, was on deployment in Afghanistan.
The
Joseph family has fought hard for harmony with determination
to succeed as Marines and husband and wife. Their struggles
have brought them closer together, even when it seemed the
odds wanted to tear them apart.
JaLisa, a sergeant
herself, finished making her son's dessert as he watched
intently. Playful banter and ensuing laughter of family time
echoed in the peace that being with loved ones brings.
The battle in their lives and their story began with an
epic storm that brought them together.
When Hurricane
Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, Kendall Joseph relocated to
JaLisa's hometown of Dallas. They met in high school when
they were both 15 years old.
JaLisa said most people
assume they met after enlisting in the Marine Corps, like
most Marine couples do.
“It was love at first sight
for her,” Kendall said teasingly. “She was like, ‘Wow!' when
she saw me.”
The Josephs said they view Katrina as a
blessing in disguise, since they otherwise would not have
met if Kendall didn't relocate.
Their plan to spend their
lives together developed as their friendship and bond grew.
JaLisa said she would often consider enlisting, but
Kendall hadn't until she mentioned it. When she finally
talked about it to Kendall, his response was, “Yeah, let's
do that.”
“I always thought of the military,” JaLisa
said. “But my brother was in the Army at the time, and I
knew I didn't want to follow in his footsteps. So I spoke to
a Marine recruiter, and Kendall was all for it as well.”
After being together approximately eight months before
enlisting, Kendall would be the first to leave for boot camp
before JaLisa.
“He had to leave before Christmas in
2007,” JaLisa said. “I tried to get the same date as him,
but I couldn't. I left in January. We had a going-away party
for the both of us with our family and friends.”
After boot camp, they attended combat training separately,
and weren't reunited until military occupational specialty
training as food service specialists in Fort Lee, Va., in
May 2008.
“This is strange, but we never talked about
our military occupational specialty,” JaLisa said. “We just
so happened to get the same one, and it's a job we both
love. It's weird, but we are lucky.”
When it came
time to get their orders to their first duty station,
Kendall was told he would be going to Yuma, Ariz., and
JaLisa originally had orders to Camp Pendleton, Calif.
“I wasn't thrilled about the thought of driving all the
time to visit each other when I first heard my orders,”
JaLisa said. “But then, most of my class had our orders
changed. A lot of orders changed from West Coast to East
Coast. This is crazy, but I ended up with orders to Yuma,
and I was so excited. I wanted to surprise Kendall by just
showing up in Yuma, but I couldn't keep it to myself.”
Kendall said he didn't believe her when he first heard
the news.
“I still think that she asked someone to
change it for her,” he said.
JaLisa's playful response
was, “Who is going to listen to a private first class?”
Kendall was again sent first, arriving in Yuma in July
2008. After a month apart, JaLisa joined him. While working
separate shifts at the Yuma mess hall, Kendall learned of
his first deployment.
“I was told I would deploy to
Afghanistan in March of 2009,” Kendall said. “We wanted to
get married that April, but realized because of my pending
deployment, it would have to happen sooner.”
Kendall
was deployed to Camp Leatherneck in Helmand Province,
Afghanistan, right after they married. While he was away,
JaLisa attended the Culinary Institute of America in New
York after winning the Chef of the Quarter competition.
JaLisa said while she was in New York alone, she
miscarried her twins.
“That loss was devastating,”
JaLisa said. “I couldn't contact Kendall. My mom ended up
staying with me the rest of my time there. At first, it felt
unreal, but everything happens for a reason. When I got back
to Yuma, I kept myself busy with the empty house we got
right before he left. I would go to my friend's house and
help her take care of her son, and work on our house. It was
completely finished by the time he returned.”
After
Kendall's homecoming, the couple decided to re-enlist with
the hopes of being stationed in Hawaii, and she became
pregnant with their son Jaylen.
“It's difficult to
get stationed places together being the same rank in the
same field,” JaLisa said. “And it will get more difficult as
we pick up rank.”
After some difficulty with
re-enlisting, they finally got orders to Marine Corps Base
Hawaii in 2011.
As they continue their path together
in life, they struggle with typical domestic worries like
taking care of their child and the non-typical worries they
face as Marines.
“I know everybody works in the
world,” JaLisa said. “But when Kendall went on ship while I
was doing Corporals Course, I had to be at physical training
at 5:30 in the morning and day care doesn't open until 6. I
don't want just anyone to look after my son, but thankfully
I had a friend that I could trust to look after him. I would
have to wake up extra early and get us both ready. Most
people here have family or a stay-at-home mom. We have each
other, but when he's gone I feel like a single parent.”
Through supporting each other and having a plan to stay
in the Marine Corps, the Josephs are focused on their
ambitions and a combined “40 years” as Marines. While
speaking of their future, their playful attitude is readily
apparent as they smile and laugh together.
“I'm just
looking forward to see what Kendall looks like as an old
man,” JaLisa said with a laugh.
By USMC LCpl. Suzanna Lapi
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2013
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