thedrifter
12-08-08, 08:52 AM
Always joined at hip, siblings enlist together
By Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff | December 6, 2008
LYNN - Yahaira and Jovanny Cosme, a sister and brother a year apart, have tended to have similar career plans. After graduating from high school two years ago, Yahaira got a security job at a local department store and started studying criminal justice at North Shore Community College. A year later, her brother graduated. And then he got a security job at a local department store, enrolled at North Shore and began studying criminal justice.
Now, Yahaira and Jovanny are doing it again - this time in a move rarely made by siblings: They are joining the Marines. Ya haira signed up in August, Jovanny in September. On Monday, they are scheduled to fly to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island in South Carolina to start 13 grueling weeks of boot camp.
"We're very close," said Yahaira, 21, sitting at a dining room table at home last week. "We're always discussing our plans and helping each other figure things out. I thought about it for about a year and a half, and I realized that it was a great fit for me."
The siblings are also close to their mother, Evelyn Santiago, a 44-year-old nurse who works the night shift at a nursing home in Everett. Jovanny does her laundry and presses her uniforms, and Yahaira prepares dinner for the family. When Santiago returns from the airport Monday, it will be the first time in more than two decades that she will be alone at home.
Santiago fought back tears as she talked about her children leaving home. "It'll be quiet around here, especially at Christmas. I've been trying to not think about it too much, it makes me cry," she said.
Her children say they will write and call as often as possible, and that they will write each other during basic training.
Jahaira said she started considering the Marines in her senior year at Lynn English High School, after sitting with a Marine recruiter during the school's career days. Jovanny got his first taste of the military five years ago as a freshman in the same school, where he signed up for the ROTC program.
The Marines do not keep statistics on the number of siblings or any other pairings of immediate family members who serve in the Corps. Gunnery Sergeant Pauline Franklin, the public affairs chief for the Marine Corps Recruiting Command Headquarters in Quantico, Va., said it is common for a young person to join because they have a distant relative or someone in their family who has served, but it is rare for siblings to sign up together.
The two new recruits said most of their friends expressed shock when they told them they had joined the Marines. "They asked, 'Don't you realize there's a war going on?' " said Jovanny, who is a year younger than his sister. "Of course, I realize there's a possibility I might be put in that position, but I'll be prepared for it. I consider it my duty."
Jovanny and Jahaira said their mother, who grew up in public housing in Mission Hill, ran a tight household. "She was strict, she set a perimeter around the house," Jovanny said. "We grew up in a disciplined environment, and there was something about that in our personalities that attracted us to the military."
Santiago said she had wanted to join the Army when she was younger, primarily to pay for college. "But I didn't have the support; there was nobody behind me telling me to go for it, nobody backing me up. So when my daughter asked me what I thought about it, I told her that whatever she did, I was going to be behind her 100 percent."
Women have served in the Marines for about 90 years and now comprise about 6 percent of the Corps. While not assigned offensive combat positions, women are often called into harm's way with the fading of traditional front lines.
Franklin added, "It's a testament to the strength and bravery of young people today to choose to serve during wartime. A lot of family members ask the question of whether their son or daughter is going to Iraq. Our answer is that they could probably expect to go, but as far as a timeline, we can't give one."
Jovanny said he will work in the military intelligence field during his five-year commitment and hopes to obtain a bachelor's degree while he serves. He said he would like to work for the CIA or FBI after the Marines. Yahaira said her commitment is for four years and she will work in the legal administration field during that time. She also wants to obtain a four-year degree, and after the military become a law enforcement officer.
The siblings said they have prepared for boot camp by exercising and studying. Tucked between the glossy sheets of a basic training brochure were two stacks of matchbox-sized flash cards, each held together with a paper clip. The cards, which contain questions and drawings of military ranks, are study tools for Yahaira and Jovanny.
"We just want to be as prepared as possible," Yahaira said.
Ellie
By Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff | December 6, 2008
LYNN - Yahaira and Jovanny Cosme, a sister and brother a year apart, have tended to have similar career plans. After graduating from high school two years ago, Yahaira got a security job at a local department store and started studying criminal justice at North Shore Community College. A year later, her brother graduated. And then he got a security job at a local department store, enrolled at North Shore and began studying criminal justice.
Now, Yahaira and Jovanny are doing it again - this time in a move rarely made by siblings: They are joining the Marines. Ya haira signed up in August, Jovanny in September. On Monday, they are scheduled to fly to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island in South Carolina to start 13 grueling weeks of boot camp.
"We're very close," said Yahaira, 21, sitting at a dining room table at home last week. "We're always discussing our plans and helping each other figure things out. I thought about it for about a year and a half, and I realized that it was a great fit for me."
The siblings are also close to their mother, Evelyn Santiago, a 44-year-old nurse who works the night shift at a nursing home in Everett. Jovanny does her laundry and presses her uniforms, and Yahaira prepares dinner for the family. When Santiago returns from the airport Monday, it will be the first time in more than two decades that she will be alone at home.
Santiago fought back tears as she talked about her children leaving home. "It'll be quiet around here, especially at Christmas. I've been trying to not think about it too much, it makes me cry," she said.
Her children say they will write and call as often as possible, and that they will write each other during basic training.
Jahaira said she started considering the Marines in her senior year at Lynn English High School, after sitting with a Marine recruiter during the school's career days. Jovanny got his first taste of the military five years ago as a freshman in the same school, where he signed up for the ROTC program.
The Marines do not keep statistics on the number of siblings or any other pairings of immediate family members who serve in the Corps. Gunnery Sergeant Pauline Franklin, the public affairs chief for the Marine Corps Recruiting Command Headquarters in Quantico, Va., said it is common for a young person to join because they have a distant relative or someone in their family who has served, but it is rare for siblings to sign up together.
The two new recruits said most of their friends expressed shock when they told them they had joined the Marines. "They asked, 'Don't you realize there's a war going on?' " said Jovanny, who is a year younger than his sister. "Of course, I realize there's a possibility I might be put in that position, but I'll be prepared for it. I consider it my duty."
Jovanny and Jahaira said their mother, who grew up in public housing in Mission Hill, ran a tight household. "She was strict, she set a perimeter around the house," Jovanny said. "We grew up in a disciplined environment, and there was something about that in our personalities that attracted us to the military."
Santiago said she had wanted to join the Army when she was younger, primarily to pay for college. "But I didn't have the support; there was nobody behind me telling me to go for it, nobody backing me up. So when my daughter asked me what I thought about it, I told her that whatever she did, I was going to be behind her 100 percent."
Women have served in the Marines for about 90 years and now comprise about 6 percent of the Corps. While not assigned offensive combat positions, women are often called into harm's way with the fading of traditional front lines.
Franklin added, "It's a testament to the strength and bravery of young people today to choose to serve during wartime. A lot of family members ask the question of whether their son or daughter is going to Iraq. Our answer is that they could probably expect to go, but as far as a timeline, we can't give one."
Jovanny said he will work in the military intelligence field during his five-year commitment and hopes to obtain a bachelor's degree while he serves. He said he would like to work for the CIA or FBI after the Marines. Yahaira said her commitment is for four years and she will work in the legal administration field during that time. She also wants to obtain a four-year degree, and after the military become a law enforcement officer.
The siblings said they have prepared for boot camp by exercising and studying. Tucked between the glossy sheets of a basic training brochure were two stacks of matchbox-sized flash cards, each held together with a paper clip. The cards, which contain questions and drawings of military ranks, are study tools for Yahaira and Jovanny.
"We just want to be as prepared as possible," Yahaira said.
Ellie