thedrifter
10-13-07, 07:48 AM
Brothers in Arms Twin brothers Ricorda and Marcorda Randall of Camilla answer the call of duty together for the Marines.
AARON PINEDA SPECIAL TO THE HERALD
NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY, Bahrain — The old saying that all Marines look alike is not too far from the truth.
This is especially the case when you’re speaking about Tactical Network Administrator Ricorda Randall and Systems Administrator Sgt. Marcorda Randall — twin brothers who are assigned to Marine Corps Forces Central Command currently at Naval Support Activity, Bahrain.
It was 2003 when the 22-year-old Randall brothers decided to join the Marine Corps, after graduating from Mitchell-Baker High School in their hometown of Camilla.
Although both brothers received scholarships offers from Albany State University, fate would eventually dictate that they join the Marine Corps.
For Ricorda, the decision to join was easier than for Marcorda.
“I had my mind set on joining,” Ricorda said. “I had hurt my foot while playing (football) in high school, so I wasn’t too sure I wanted to follow that path and play in college.”
“I thought I may have had a better opportunity to jump-start a career by joining the Marines,” Marcorda added. “He decided to go in first. I tried to talk him out of it, but he had already made up his mind. At that time, I had my books in hand and was ready to go to school. Then at the last minute, I decided to come in with him.”
The brothers went on to Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, N.C., together June 15, 2003. After recruit training they separated, because Ricorda was having an extended boot camp leave. Because of Ricorda’s extended leave, the brothers were not able to be in the same class together. They did, however, go to the same military occupational school together and receive the same training. Marcorda graduated one class ahead of Ricorda.
“We were a little off, because my brother had a few things going on back home, so I ended up graduating from MOS before him,” Marcorda explained. “But in the end, it actually worked out to our benefit, because I was able to get to my duty station before he graduated and could talk to them about getting him to come to the same command (4th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, Camp Schawb, Okinawa, Japan). They said they would do what they could and were able to get him stationed there.”
For the brothers, who have both attained the rank of sergeant (Ricorda pinned on sergeant July 2006 and Marcorda in November 2006), there’s nothing new about the two of them being together or people realizing they’re twins.
Since the time of their birth to Camilla residents Francis and Rosalyn Mendez on Feb. 2, 1985 (Marcorda is older by two minutes) people have given the brothers wondrous stares and set the stage for competition for the two.
“When you meet people, the first thing they say is, ‘You guys are brothers?’ When they find out we’re twins, they always ask us who’s faster and who’s smarter,” Ricorda said.
With their stout build and muscular stature, inevitably one of the questions people ask the twins is who is stronger. Each brother has his own answer.
“It goes back and forth really,” Marcorda admitted. “Sometimes I’m on top with bench (press) sometimes he can lift more in squats. Then, sometimes, I’ll push more on bench and he’ll lift more than me on squats. Sometimes I’m faster; sometimes he’s faster.”
Ricorda agreed, but the tone in his voice indicated that the competition is still alive.
“Right now, I got bench and squat,” Ricorda said. “We’ve been wanting to race to see who’s faster, because we had a little dispute about it.”
The twins said they view the sibling rivalry and competition they share as a positive thing and think that it has helped them advance and become the people they are.
“Competing with each other really helped us out growing up,” Ricorda said. “It made us strive to do better in school and sports. We were always competing with grades and football. We were always trying to see who can get the most — like the most yardage and the most tackles.”
The twins said they have been mistaken for the other many times.
“When we were in kindergarten, I used to walk him to his class. One day the teacher thought I was him and saw me outside of her class when the bell rang and came out yelling at me to get in class,” Marcorda remembered. “She grabbed me and brought me in and took me over to his seat where he was already seated. Then she looked at me and said, ‘Oh — you’re his brother.’ ”
Marcorda added that there are more similarities between them than differences.
“If you looked at our medical records, you probably wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between us, other than our first names. Even our transcripts from school are almost identical.”
Ricorda interjected, “I scored higher on the SAT than he did, though.”
Although the twins have shared experiences such as becoming Marines and have been stationed together overseas, they have not forgotten about their other two brothers.
“We have an older brother — Specialist Andre Jackson, who is in Afghanistan right now. He’s in the Army — 82nd Airborne, and we have a younger brother — Horazeo Crawford, who is in school right now and just received a football scholarship. He’s living out my dream,” admitted Marcorda.
For the Randall brothers, joining the Marine Corps has been a rewarding decision.
“It’s been a good career path,” Ricorda said, “I feel the military has really advanced my maturity level. Whenever I talk with people, they always tell me I seem to be so much older than I am. I think the Marine Corps has something to do with that.”
Both brothers said they are looking forward to accomplishing their future goals.
“I’m focusing on learning more about my job field, finishing college and setting myself up for the future,” Ricorda said. “I’d like to look into playing football again. In Tampa, there’s a semipro league — that’s something I have my sights set on,” admitted Marcorda.
Being stationed together is something they both said they appreciate.
“It’s really different having a best friend around — from having your brother around,” Ricorda said. “With friends, sometimes you may get into a fight, and that’s the end of the friendship. With a brother, no matter what happens, that person will always be your brother.”
“Even after having an argument,” Marcorda said, “you know your brother will still be there. So it’s good to be stationed together.”
Aaron Pineda is an editor with The Desert Times as part of the Navy Region Southwest Asia/Naval Support Activity Bahrain, which is located on an archipelago in the Persian Gulf off the coast of Saudi Arabia.
Ellie
AARON PINEDA SPECIAL TO THE HERALD
NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY, Bahrain — The old saying that all Marines look alike is not too far from the truth.
This is especially the case when you’re speaking about Tactical Network Administrator Ricorda Randall and Systems Administrator Sgt. Marcorda Randall — twin brothers who are assigned to Marine Corps Forces Central Command currently at Naval Support Activity, Bahrain.
It was 2003 when the 22-year-old Randall brothers decided to join the Marine Corps, after graduating from Mitchell-Baker High School in their hometown of Camilla.
Although both brothers received scholarships offers from Albany State University, fate would eventually dictate that they join the Marine Corps.
For Ricorda, the decision to join was easier than for Marcorda.
“I had my mind set on joining,” Ricorda said. “I had hurt my foot while playing (football) in high school, so I wasn’t too sure I wanted to follow that path and play in college.”
“I thought I may have had a better opportunity to jump-start a career by joining the Marines,” Marcorda added. “He decided to go in first. I tried to talk him out of it, but he had already made up his mind. At that time, I had my books in hand and was ready to go to school. Then at the last minute, I decided to come in with him.”
The brothers went on to Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, N.C., together June 15, 2003. After recruit training they separated, because Ricorda was having an extended boot camp leave. Because of Ricorda’s extended leave, the brothers were not able to be in the same class together. They did, however, go to the same military occupational school together and receive the same training. Marcorda graduated one class ahead of Ricorda.
“We were a little off, because my brother had a few things going on back home, so I ended up graduating from MOS before him,” Marcorda explained. “But in the end, it actually worked out to our benefit, because I was able to get to my duty station before he graduated and could talk to them about getting him to come to the same command (4th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, Camp Schawb, Okinawa, Japan). They said they would do what they could and were able to get him stationed there.”
For the brothers, who have both attained the rank of sergeant (Ricorda pinned on sergeant July 2006 and Marcorda in November 2006), there’s nothing new about the two of them being together or people realizing they’re twins.
Since the time of their birth to Camilla residents Francis and Rosalyn Mendez on Feb. 2, 1985 (Marcorda is older by two minutes) people have given the brothers wondrous stares and set the stage for competition for the two.
“When you meet people, the first thing they say is, ‘You guys are brothers?’ When they find out we’re twins, they always ask us who’s faster and who’s smarter,” Ricorda said.
With their stout build and muscular stature, inevitably one of the questions people ask the twins is who is stronger. Each brother has his own answer.
“It goes back and forth really,” Marcorda admitted. “Sometimes I’m on top with bench (press) sometimes he can lift more in squats. Then, sometimes, I’ll push more on bench and he’ll lift more than me on squats. Sometimes I’m faster; sometimes he’s faster.”
Ricorda agreed, but the tone in his voice indicated that the competition is still alive.
“Right now, I got bench and squat,” Ricorda said. “We’ve been wanting to race to see who’s faster, because we had a little dispute about it.”
The twins said they view the sibling rivalry and competition they share as a positive thing and think that it has helped them advance and become the people they are.
“Competing with each other really helped us out growing up,” Ricorda said. “It made us strive to do better in school and sports. We were always competing with grades and football. We were always trying to see who can get the most — like the most yardage and the most tackles.”
The twins said they have been mistaken for the other many times.
“When we were in kindergarten, I used to walk him to his class. One day the teacher thought I was him and saw me outside of her class when the bell rang and came out yelling at me to get in class,” Marcorda remembered. “She grabbed me and brought me in and took me over to his seat where he was already seated. Then she looked at me and said, ‘Oh — you’re his brother.’ ”
Marcorda added that there are more similarities between them than differences.
“If you looked at our medical records, you probably wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between us, other than our first names. Even our transcripts from school are almost identical.”
Ricorda interjected, “I scored higher on the SAT than he did, though.”
Although the twins have shared experiences such as becoming Marines and have been stationed together overseas, they have not forgotten about their other two brothers.
“We have an older brother — Specialist Andre Jackson, who is in Afghanistan right now. He’s in the Army — 82nd Airborne, and we have a younger brother — Horazeo Crawford, who is in school right now and just received a football scholarship. He’s living out my dream,” admitted Marcorda.
For the Randall brothers, joining the Marine Corps has been a rewarding decision.
“It’s been a good career path,” Ricorda said, “I feel the military has really advanced my maturity level. Whenever I talk with people, they always tell me I seem to be so much older than I am. I think the Marine Corps has something to do with that.”
Both brothers said they are looking forward to accomplishing their future goals.
“I’m focusing on learning more about my job field, finishing college and setting myself up for the future,” Ricorda said. “I’d like to look into playing football again. In Tampa, there’s a semipro league — that’s something I have my sights set on,” admitted Marcorda.
Being stationed together is something they both said they appreciate.
“It’s really different having a best friend around — from having your brother around,” Ricorda said. “With friends, sometimes you may get into a fight, and that’s the end of the friendship. With a brother, no matter what happens, that person will always be your brother.”
“Even after having an argument,” Marcorda said, “you know your brother will still be there. So it’s good to be stationed together.”
Aaron Pineda is an editor with The Desert Times as part of the Navy Region Southwest Asia/Naval Support Activity Bahrain, which is located on an archipelago in the Persian Gulf off the coast of Saudi Arabia.
Ellie