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thedrifter
11-19-07, 08:33 AM
Monday, November 19, 2007

Marine remembered by peers, brother at Foster

By Cindy Fisher, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Tuesday, November 20, 2007

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Marines who served with Capt. Sean L. Brock remember him as a dedicated leader — the kind they want to emulate.

His fraternal twin brother Rayme Brock, 32, remembers Sean as a leader, too. But he also remembers him as “a go-getter, a risk taker.”

Sean was commander of Camp Foster’s A Company, Headquarters and Service Battalion in 2004 when he volunteered as an individual augmentee in Anbar province, Iraq, where he was killed in action Feb. 2, 2005. He had already served a tour in Iraq and one in Afghanistan

Rayme came to Okinawa to attend a memorial and dedication ceremony for his brother Friday near the Joint Vehicle Registration Office on Camp Foster. During the ceremony, a memorial plaque for Sean was unveiled and the road in front of the Center was named Captain Brock Road.

After the ceremony, Rayme talked about his brother.

Though four minutes older, Rayme said he felt like he was always trying to catch up with Sean.

“We were always competing … that’s how we wound up in the Marine Corps,” said Rayme, who served from 1993 to 1997 as an infantryman.

They were together through recruit training and both served as squad leaders, Rayme recalled. Sean was determined to retain a leadership position throughout recruit training “and he survived all the way through,” Rayme said.

Sean’s goal was to eventually become an officer, Rayme said.

While Rayme served on active duty, Sean had joined the Reserve as a fire crash and rescue Marine and went to college to get a degree.

About the same time Rayme left active service to attend college and become a nurse practitioner, Sean went to officer candidate school.

“He had a thirst for life all Brocks have,” Rayme said, adding that Sean brought an unswerving dedication to everything he tried to accomplish.“I learned a lot from him.”

Rayme said he has read many of the messages posted about his brother on Web sites like www.fallenheroesmemorial.com and they don’t surprise him.

“He knew when to switch the on/off switch between officer and friend” and he cared about people, Rayme said.

Even from a hellish place like Iraq, Sean reached out to those he cared about.

While deployed to Camp Blue Diamond in Al Anbar, Sean called Rayme “to cheer me up” about a problem he was having with his then girlfriend.

They talked for 10 to 15 minutes and “here he was in Iraq trying to reassure me,” Rayme recalled.

Sean also described to Rayme how things had calmed down in Iraq because the country was going though elections.

Rayme remembers that Sean said it was an eerie calm that made him uncomfortable.

Seven hours later, Sean died of wounds caused by the shrapnel from an enemy grenade blast, Rayme said.

“My family and I were honored at the dedication of the Marine Corps to continue to remember my brother,” Rayme said.

“My brother, the Marine Corps … will forever be with me.”


Ellie