thedrifter
01-30-06, 07:36 AM
Doing Their Part: Husband and wife, brother and sister, deployed together
By Monte Mitchell
JOURNAL REPORTER
Monday, January 30, 2006
BOONE - When Spc. Kenneth Brock returned from the war in Iraq in April 2005, his sister, Ruby, was among the eight members of his family to welcome him home.
Now they are both heading to Iraq as part of the N.C. National Guard's 1451st Transportation Co., with headquarters in Boone and detachments in Morganton and Marion.
About 500 people attended the unit's deployment ceremony at Watauga High School yesterday. Eighty-seven members of the 1451st are scheduled to leave Thursday for training in Indiana, before heading overseas on a mission that could last up to 15 months.
In addition to a brother and sister in the unit, a husband and wife will leave behind a baby. An older soldier who was getting ready to retire, and a young soldier who completed basic training when he was in high school also will be deployed.
Kenneth and Samantha Brock were in the gym bleachers as their children marched in with the other soldiers.
The ceremony was upbeat, with prayers, speeches, patriotic songs, applause and cheers, but the sadness of seeing a son and daughter leave for a war zone was evident on the father's face afterward as he stood with his family.
"I don't much care for it," he said. "It was a rough time when he went the first time. It will be better with them being together."
His namesake, Kenneth Brock, 21, was among those soldiers who said they had volunteered to return to Iraq since he had been home less than a year.
He served in Iraq with the 1452nd Guard unit based in Winston-Salem, but said that his sister's service motivated him to volunteer to return to Iraq. "To go with her so we can go together," he said. "That's my sister. We do a lot of things together. It's something I had to do."
The siblings share a house in Newton, where he works as a mechanic and she works for the Catawba County Department of Social Services.
Their brothers and sisters - Kyle, 19, Zack, 14, Kristen, 11, Kimberly, 9, and Sheila, 7 - have volunteered to look after the house.
"We'll look out for each other," Private Ruby Brock, 22, said.
The brother and sister will work as mechanics during the Guard's deployment.
Sgt. Robert Mullis, 30, and his wife, Sgt. Holly Mullis, 25, both of Lenoir, will leave behind an 18-month old daughter who will stay with Holly's mother.
Robert Mullis also had served with the 1452nd, and said he had to volunteer, too, so that he could accompany his wife. "I'm excited," he said. "I'm ready to go do my part."
Sgt. 1st Class David Penley, 52, who works full time for the Guard in Lenoir and lives in Taylorsville, is one of the unit's oldest soldiers.
He is a 29-year veteran of the Guard and Marines, and was getting ready to work on his retirement packet in December when news spread that the unit might be deployed.
He put his retirement papers away.
"It just makes me feel when I do return I can say I done my part," he said. "There's a lot of young kids here, and us older ones can stick with them and take care of them."
One of the youngest ones, David Blake II, 19, is an engineering student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
He has been in the Guard since he completed basic training between his junior and senior years in high school when he was 17.
His mother Chris Blake-Jenkins of Clemmons wrote a brief e-mail about how much she supports the son she calls "my local hero."
"He has been raised to support and respect all military for all causes since he was little," she wrote. "I did not push him to go in the Guard, but he knows how proud I was when he enlisted."
In a speech yesterday, Capt. Kelly Frazier, the commander of the 1451st, thanked the families and friends for their support. He made a promise.
"This is my solemn vow that I will do everything in my power, and my company and my leadership will do everything they can, to make sure everyone comes home," he said.
• Monte Mitchell can be reached in Wilkesboro at (336) 667-5691 or at mmitchell@wsjournal.com
Ellie
By Monte Mitchell
JOURNAL REPORTER
Monday, January 30, 2006
BOONE - When Spc. Kenneth Brock returned from the war in Iraq in April 2005, his sister, Ruby, was among the eight members of his family to welcome him home.
Now they are both heading to Iraq as part of the N.C. National Guard's 1451st Transportation Co., with headquarters in Boone and detachments in Morganton and Marion.
About 500 people attended the unit's deployment ceremony at Watauga High School yesterday. Eighty-seven members of the 1451st are scheduled to leave Thursday for training in Indiana, before heading overseas on a mission that could last up to 15 months.
In addition to a brother and sister in the unit, a husband and wife will leave behind a baby. An older soldier who was getting ready to retire, and a young soldier who completed basic training when he was in high school also will be deployed.
Kenneth and Samantha Brock were in the gym bleachers as their children marched in with the other soldiers.
The ceremony was upbeat, with prayers, speeches, patriotic songs, applause and cheers, but the sadness of seeing a son and daughter leave for a war zone was evident on the father's face afterward as he stood with his family.
"I don't much care for it," he said. "It was a rough time when he went the first time. It will be better with them being together."
His namesake, Kenneth Brock, 21, was among those soldiers who said they had volunteered to return to Iraq since he had been home less than a year.
He served in Iraq with the 1452nd Guard unit based in Winston-Salem, but said that his sister's service motivated him to volunteer to return to Iraq. "To go with her so we can go together," he said. "That's my sister. We do a lot of things together. It's something I had to do."
The siblings share a house in Newton, where he works as a mechanic and she works for the Catawba County Department of Social Services.
Their brothers and sisters - Kyle, 19, Zack, 14, Kristen, 11, Kimberly, 9, and Sheila, 7 - have volunteered to look after the house.
"We'll look out for each other," Private Ruby Brock, 22, said.
The brother and sister will work as mechanics during the Guard's deployment.
Sgt. Robert Mullis, 30, and his wife, Sgt. Holly Mullis, 25, both of Lenoir, will leave behind an 18-month old daughter who will stay with Holly's mother.
Robert Mullis also had served with the 1452nd, and said he had to volunteer, too, so that he could accompany his wife. "I'm excited," he said. "I'm ready to go do my part."
Sgt. 1st Class David Penley, 52, who works full time for the Guard in Lenoir and lives in Taylorsville, is one of the unit's oldest soldiers.
He is a 29-year veteran of the Guard and Marines, and was getting ready to work on his retirement packet in December when news spread that the unit might be deployed.
He put his retirement papers away.
"It just makes me feel when I do return I can say I done my part," he said. "There's a lot of young kids here, and us older ones can stick with them and take care of them."
One of the youngest ones, David Blake II, 19, is an engineering student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
He has been in the Guard since he completed basic training between his junior and senior years in high school when he was 17.
His mother Chris Blake-Jenkins of Clemmons wrote a brief e-mail about how much she supports the son she calls "my local hero."
"He has been raised to support and respect all military for all causes since he was little," she wrote. "I did not push him to go in the Guard, but he knows how proud I was when he enlisted."
In a speech yesterday, Capt. Kelly Frazier, the commander of the 1451st, thanked the families and friends for their support. He made a promise.
"This is my solemn vow that I will do everything in my power, and my company and my leadership will do everything they can, to make sure everyone comes home," he said.
• Monte Mitchell can be reached in Wilkesboro at (336) 667-5691 or at mmitchell@wsjournal.com
Ellie