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thedrifter
01-07-07, 10:02 AM
Marines are family
Anderson Independent Mail, SC
By Samantha Harris (Contact)
Sunday, January 7, 2007

An Anderson woman’s two grandsons, both U.S. Marines, were reunited recently in Iraq.

Lance Cpl. Ryan L. Tomlinson, 19, and his 21-year-old brother, Cpl. Erik W. Tomlinson, of Franklin, Tenn., saw each another on Nov. 22 — for just the second time in more than two years — at Camp Taqaddum.

Erik Tomlinson, an infantry squad leader with 2nd Platoon, Company L, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, operates out of Habbaniyah, Iraq, which is only a few hundred yards outside Camp Taqaddum. That’s where Ryan Tomlinson, a combat correspondent with 1st Marine Logistics Group, has spent most of his deployment.

But Erik Tomlinson didn’t know his brother was working so close to him, thinking he was in Fallujah. According to the Marine Corps News, the older sibling had made a few unsuccessful attempts to locate his younger brother.

Military officials organized the meeting between the brothers, Ms. Tomlinson said.

“They were able to get together, enjoy each other and visit for a while,” she said. “They had a wonderful time together.”

The reunion was recounted in an article in the Marine Corps News.

According to the article and photos, the brothers embraced and shared stories about growing up together. Fellow soldiers remarked about the resemblance between the two brothers, the article said.

The reunion lasted a couple of precious hours, Ms. Tomlinson said.

The brothers arranged to have pictures of the reunion sent to their father, Bill Tomlinson, who then shared them with his mother, Ms. Tomlinson. He has talked to both of his sons since the reunion.

“They were both just absolutely thrilled with it,” Bill Tomlinson said. “It was a great uplifting of their morale and their spirits. They’ve got their own jobs to do, but when they see their brother or people they don’t typically work with everyday from back home, it’s a great uplifting.”

Both of his sons have been on tours in Iraq since July, Bill Tomlinson said. Erik Tomlinson has done two previous tours in Afghanistan, he said.

They are both scheduled to arrive home in February.

“I have a really good problem,” Bill Tomlinson said. “What do I do when they both come home at the same time?”

Ellie