thedrifter
05-13-07, 07:53 AM
John Clayton: As a matter of fact, his Mom does wear Army boot
By JOHN CLAYTON
New Hampshire Union Leader Staff
THERE'S A CERTAIN old playground taunt that just won't get a rise out of Christian Hodge, and it has nothing to do with him having thick skin.
It's because his mother does wear Army boots.
He does, too.
Both 19-year-old Christian and his mom, 50-year-old Staff Sgt. Carolyn Hodge, belong to the New Hampshire National Guard, and if you don't think that makes for an unusual Mother's Day story, then I give you NHNG spokesman, Master Sgt. Mike Daigle.
"It is unusual," he said. "We do know that father-son combinations are fairly typical. Same for brothers, but I checked with personnel, and this is the only mother-son combination we know of right now, and I can't say if it's ever happened before."
Before we go too far, allow me to give credit where it is due.
Way back in November, I got a note from Pauline LaPlume. She's the proud mother of Carolyn Hodge -- and the equally proud grandmother of Christian Hodge -- and she knew the family had something special going on as she described their concurrent service.
"Just thought it might make for an interesting story," she said in closing her note.
After reading it -- and knowing that timing is everything -- I deliberately sat on the story for six months so I could offer this as a Mother's Day gift for Pauline.
Her maternal pride is justified.
Just days after being graduated from Merrimack High School in 1975, her daughter Carolyn enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.
"No reserves," Carolyn said. "I went right into active duty with the Marine Corps. I was 17 and I wanted to go to college -- no one in my family had ever gone to college before -- and going into the Marines was the way for me to pay for my schooling."
She was willing to postpone that schooling while she was in the Marines, but she wasn't about to postpone having a family.
Over the course of 10 years, Carolyn LaPlume married a Virginia civilian named Jack Hodge. They had a daughter, Sarah, and another daughter, Andrea. Then they had Christian, and then Carolyn had a strange conversation with a superior office.
"A lieutenant colonel told my husband and me that if the Marine Corps had wanted me to have a family, they would have issued me one," she said.
She got the hint.
"We had the three kids at the time," she said, "so I left the Marine Corps and dragged my husband and kids back to New Hampshire from Arlington, Virginia."
Once they were back here, Carolyn fulfilled her pledge to get a college education. She got her bachelor's degree from New Hampshire College -- now Southern New Hampshire University -- in 1992 and now she's pursuing a master's degree from Plymouth State University, but for all of the book learning and family commitments, Carolyn felt something was missing in her life.
"I'd been out of the Marines for 10 years," she said, "and then I found out about the National Guard. I joined in 1999, and I was working as a paralegal. When 9/11 came, we had the massive deployments and I was doing wills and power-of-attorney papers for the soldiers who were deploying, so I wound up going full-time with the Guard and I've been full-time ever since."
Christian's enlistment mirrored his mother's.
"It was my senior year at Goffstown High," he said, "and I was floating ideas about college with my mom and dad. I know how expensive it is, because my sisters are both in college, so we talked about the service.
"I thought about the Marines," he added, "but my mom started telling me all these great things about the National Guard. Instead of the Marines, it made me want to go straight there with her."
Did I mention that Carolyn is now a recruiter for the National Guard?
Clearly, she's good at what she does.
So is Christian.
He's a gifted musician, so when he enlisted in the National Guard halfway through his senior year at Goffstown High, he set his sights on the NHNG's 39th Army Band. His aim was good, so next month, he'll be heading for Virginia for 30 days of Advanced Individualized Training.
"I had basic training all last summer at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, but this is different," said Chris, who just completed his freshman year at New Hampshire Community Technical College-Manchester. "I'll be playing trumpet with the band, so for AIT, that's considered my primary occupation, but our secondary occupation is military police."
The possibility of deployment is very real, and so is his admiration for the example his mother has set for him.
"She did all of the paper work for my enlistment," he said, "and the guys have a lot of fun with me about that. It's like, 'Oh, the only reason you got into the Guard is because your mom got you in!' Stuff like that, but her influence on me was huge. I mean, she joined the Marines when she was my age and she's still serving her country.
"Because of her, I am too," he said, "and it's the best of all worlds. I get to play my music, I get my college education paid for and I get to serve my country in uniform."
Both were in uniform Friday afternoon.
Carolyn had just returned from a 13-day training assignment in Little Rock, Ark. She got home just in time to pose for the picture that accompanies this story. She was also home in time to watch her daughter, Sarah, take part in her college commencement at Franklin Pierce College in Rindge yesterday, and it also enabled her to be with her husband and her kids for Mother's Day.
She's most grateful.
"What I'd like people to be aware of is that there are so many moms who won't be with their kids on Mother's Day," Carolyn said. "There are many, many moms who are still deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, so I'm the lucky one.
"I get to be with my kids on Mother's Day," she added, "but I wouldn't want people to forget about the girls, the other moms, who are serving over there."
John Clayton is a staff columnist for the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News. His e-mail is jclayton@unionleader.com.
Ellie
By JOHN CLAYTON
New Hampshire Union Leader Staff
THERE'S A CERTAIN old playground taunt that just won't get a rise out of Christian Hodge, and it has nothing to do with him having thick skin.
It's because his mother does wear Army boots.
He does, too.
Both 19-year-old Christian and his mom, 50-year-old Staff Sgt. Carolyn Hodge, belong to the New Hampshire National Guard, and if you don't think that makes for an unusual Mother's Day story, then I give you NHNG spokesman, Master Sgt. Mike Daigle.
"It is unusual," he said. "We do know that father-son combinations are fairly typical. Same for brothers, but I checked with personnel, and this is the only mother-son combination we know of right now, and I can't say if it's ever happened before."
Before we go too far, allow me to give credit where it is due.
Way back in November, I got a note from Pauline LaPlume. She's the proud mother of Carolyn Hodge -- and the equally proud grandmother of Christian Hodge -- and she knew the family had something special going on as she described their concurrent service.
"Just thought it might make for an interesting story," she said in closing her note.
After reading it -- and knowing that timing is everything -- I deliberately sat on the story for six months so I could offer this as a Mother's Day gift for Pauline.
Her maternal pride is justified.
Just days after being graduated from Merrimack High School in 1975, her daughter Carolyn enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.
"No reserves," Carolyn said. "I went right into active duty with the Marine Corps. I was 17 and I wanted to go to college -- no one in my family had ever gone to college before -- and going into the Marines was the way for me to pay for my schooling."
She was willing to postpone that schooling while she was in the Marines, but she wasn't about to postpone having a family.
Over the course of 10 years, Carolyn LaPlume married a Virginia civilian named Jack Hodge. They had a daughter, Sarah, and another daughter, Andrea. Then they had Christian, and then Carolyn had a strange conversation with a superior office.
"A lieutenant colonel told my husband and me that if the Marine Corps had wanted me to have a family, they would have issued me one," she said.
She got the hint.
"We had the three kids at the time," she said, "so I left the Marine Corps and dragged my husband and kids back to New Hampshire from Arlington, Virginia."
Once they were back here, Carolyn fulfilled her pledge to get a college education. She got her bachelor's degree from New Hampshire College -- now Southern New Hampshire University -- in 1992 and now she's pursuing a master's degree from Plymouth State University, but for all of the book learning and family commitments, Carolyn felt something was missing in her life.
"I'd been out of the Marines for 10 years," she said, "and then I found out about the National Guard. I joined in 1999, and I was working as a paralegal. When 9/11 came, we had the massive deployments and I was doing wills and power-of-attorney papers for the soldiers who were deploying, so I wound up going full-time with the Guard and I've been full-time ever since."
Christian's enlistment mirrored his mother's.
"It was my senior year at Goffstown High," he said, "and I was floating ideas about college with my mom and dad. I know how expensive it is, because my sisters are both in college, so we talked about the service.
"I thought about the Marines," he added, "but my mom started telling me all these great things about the National Guard. Instead of the Marines, it made me want to go straight there with her."
Did I mention that Carolyn is now a recruiter for the National Guard?
Clearly, she's good at what she does.
So is Christian.
He's a gifted musician, so when he enlisted in the National Guard halfway through his senior year at Goffstown High, he set his sights on the NHNG's 39th Army Band. His aim was good, so next month, he'll be heading for Virginia for 30 days of Advanced Individualized Training.
"I had basic training all last summer at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, but this is different," said Chris, who just completed his freshman year at New Hampshire Community Technical College-Manchester. "I'll be playing trumpet with the band, so for AIT, that's considered my primary occupation, but our secondary occupation is military police."
The possibility of deployment is very real, and so is his admiration for the example his mother has set for him.
"She did all of the paper work for my enlistment," he said, "and the guys have a lot of fun with me about that. It's like, 'Oh, the only reason you got into the Guard is because your mom got you in!' Stuff like that, but her influence on me was huge. I mean, she joined the Marines when she was my age and she's still serving her country.
"Because of her, I am too," he said, "and it's the best of all worlds. I get to play my music, I get my college education paid for and I get to serve my country in uniform."
Both were in uniform Friday afternoon.
Carolyn had just returned from a 13-day training assignment in Little Rock, Ark. She got home just in time to pose for the picture that accompanies this story. She was also home in time to watch her daughter, Sarah, take part in her college commencement at Franklin Pierce College in Rindge yesterday, and it also enabled her to be with her husband and her kids for Mother's Day.
She's most grateful.
"What I'd like people to be aware of is that there are so many moms who won't be with their kids on Mother's Day," Carolyn said. "There are many, many moms who are still deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, so I'm the lucky one.
"I get to be with my kids on Mother's Day," she added, "but I wouldn't want people to forget about the girls, the other moms, who are serving over there."
John Clayton is a staff columnist for the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News. His e-mail is jclayton@unionleader.com.
Ellie