Photo By Sgt. Sarah Bailey | Brothers, U.S. Army Sgt. Wilfredo Perez, a motor transport operator with Company A,...... read more read more
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LOGAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Growing up in San Juan, Puerto Rico, U.S. Army Sgt. Wilfredo Perez, a motor transport operator with Company A, 703rd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, and his younger brother, U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. Victor Ayala, a cargo specialist with the 268th Cargo Transport Company, 18th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 16th Sustainment Brigade, out of Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico, were very close to one another.
“Beburrio, that’s what I call him, and we grew up doing everything together,” said Ayala. “We played in a band in Puerto Rico and he was an excellent drummer.”
Ayala looked up to his older brother for guidance and advice and when Perez said he was joining the Army, it was a shock.
“We were always together and it was hard when he joined the Army,” said Ayala.
Perez, who left his brother and family in 2008 to join the Army and serve his country, attended both basic combat training and advanced individual training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.
During his first trip back to see his family, he tried to convince his brother to follow his lead and join the Army.
“He has always been a hard worker and natural born leader; I knew the Army would be something challenging and different for him,” Perez said.
Two years later, Ayala took his brother’s advice and joined the Puerto Rican reserve component.
“My brother wanted something better for me and believed I could do it,” Ayala said.
Due to training and deployments, Perez and Ayala didn’t see each other for four years. When they learned they would be in Afghanistan during the same time, they would often joke about running into one another.
“We both thought it would be great to be in the same area, but we also knew that was pretty unlikely,” Perez said.
Ayala deployed with his unit to Bagram Air Field in December where he was assigned to the reception, staging, onward movement and integration area. His unit monitored and oversaw all incoming cargo to the base.
Perez arrived a few months later and was stationed at Forward Operating Base Shank, south from his brother.
Knowing his brother was at Bagram, Perez, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the orderly room for Company A, requested to be transferred to the company’s transportation platoon, which frequently convoyed to and from Bagram. After three months of the deployment, Perez was moved to the transportation platoon.
On his first trip to Bagram, Perez went to the cargo office to announce their arrival where he saw his brother’s face for the first time in four years.
“It was an emotional experience for both of us – we were both shocked and immediately ran to greet one another,” said Perez.
The brothers were able to reconnect and see each other on multiple occasions until Ayala’s unit redeployed in early August.
A day before Ayala left country, Perez and his unit were preparing to depart Bagram and Ayala was able to track him down moments before they departed to say his final goodbye.
“He is my big brother and my best friend,” Ayala said. “I just want him to be safe, and I will see him again when he gets back.”
The brothers are planning a holiday reunion in Puerto Rico after Perez redeploys with his unit later this year.
| Date Taken: | 08.09.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 08.14.2013 05:31 |
| Story ID: | 111920 |
| Location: | LOGAR PROVINCE, AF |
| Hometown: | SAN JUAN, PR |
| Web Views: | 647 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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