Family's 3 sons join the Marines
By Tiffany Green
The Cullman Times

A new generation of patriotism begins for the Howell family. Matt and Rena Howell have three sons, and all three have joined the Marines.

“They were all very close growing up, and when one enlisted I guess the others wanted to follow,” Matt said. “They all decided at an early age to be Marines.”

Cpl. Matthew Howell, 21, is stationed at Camp Legune, N.C., while 19-year-old Lt. Cpl. Zachary Howell is in California at Camp Pendelton. The youngest son, 17-year-old Blake, just recently graduated from boot camp and is now at Camp Geiger in North Carolina waiting to be stationed somewhere.

All graduated from Fairview High School and decided early on to go into the Marines and joined through the delayed entry program.

Neither Matt Howell nor his wife was in the military, but they do have other family members in it.

Matt said he was surprised when his sons decided to go into the military.

“We want to support them in whatever they do,” he said. “We are a close family, so it was surprising when they all chose this field.”

Rena Howell said she tried to discourage them from going into the Marines.

“Sometimes I tried to discourage them. I just wanted to make sure they knew what they were doing,” she said.

The family has always been very close and still talk about it every day.

“Except when they were at boot camp or in the field, we talk to them about every day,” Rena Howell said.

Rena Howell said technology has been a big help.

“It is a life saver for moms,” she said about getting to talk to her sons on their cell phones.

“We were glad to get a lot of hand-written letters when they were in boot camp,” she said.

The mother said her sons sent very personal letters and it meant a lot to her to receive them.

“It was hard not talking to them during boot camp, but we had the others to talk to,” she said.

All entered at different times, so none of the boys were in boot camp together.

They said their sons are very open about talking about things going on, but there are always things the parents do not know about, their dad said.

None of the boys have been deployed, but all are anxious to go.

The Howells worry that the time will soon come for one of their sons to be deployed. Both parents said they know the sacrifices and their sons do, too, and are willing to make those choices for their country.

“You can lose a child — it would be more honorable for me to die for a cause,” Matt said.

Matt Howell said his sons are just normal, good kids who chose the military for their career.

“They’ve always been good, disciplined kids and not given us any trouble,” he said. “Overall, they’re just normal kids that chose this kind of life.”

The Howells said their days are a lot quieter now that all three sons are away.

“It’s been very different lately,” Matt Howell said.

‰ Tiffany Green can be reached by e-mail at tgreen@cullmantimes.com or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 221.

Ellie