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CAMP SCHWAB, Japan - Private First Class Hareko Keel got off a bus in front of the enlisted club on Camp Schwab, Okinawa, Japan, in 1997. It was his first Friday on the island.
“The most beautiful girl” stood outside. He gathered the courage to talk to her.
“I was lil’ old Pfc.,” said Master Sgt. Hareko Keel, now the utilities chief with Combat Engineer Company, Combat Assault Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force. “She laughed at me, man.”
Tomoko pretended not to speak English. Hareko knew she did, so he stubbornly continued talking to her until she spoke back. They dated for three years before tying the knot.
“He was really cool,” said Tomoko Keel, Hareko’s wife. “He always made me want to become a better person. He had a goal and that was pretty impressive to me.”
The Keels have been married for 16 years. Hareko said his wife continues to play a big role in his life.
“I would always want to be there for him. He loves the Marine Corps so much,” said Tomoko, from Okinawa. “He did a lot for me – being positive and being strong for me. I can always respect him. He always lifts me up.”
He knows it too.
“She’s a strong supporter. She stayed up all night if I needed her to,” said Hareko, from Bladenboro, North Carolina. “When, I’m doing my homework, or going to school, or if I’m doing an inspection, or I need someone to wake me up in the morning if I’m tired, I can call her. If I’m having a rough day at work, she’ll pick up the phone and we would talk about it.”
They both admit it hasn’t always been easy. Military life throws curve balls from time to time.
“I deployed to Iraq then I deployed to Afghanistan nine months later,” Hareko said. “That was trying because she was pregnant at the time and almost died in the hospital at the time when giving birth.”
His wife agreed, “Those times were one of the toughest moments for our family.”
As he moved up the ranks, he gained more responsibility. When he reached the rank of gunnery sergeant, he had to switch his military occupational specialty.
“I’ve been in the Marine Corps 19 years, five months,” Hareko said. “My wife has gotten up every day with me whether if it’s two in the morning, three in the morning, four or five in the morning and made me breakfast or made me a lunch. For 19 years she always cooked me a meal even if we were arguing. Even when I’m down she always got my back telling me to keep going.”
| Date Taken: | 03.18.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 03.23.2016 03:06 |
| Story ID: | 193105 |
| Location: | CAMP SCHWAB, OKINAWA, JP |
| Hometown: | NAHA, OKINAWA, OKINAWA, JP |
| Hometown: | BLADENBORO, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 42 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, A Marriage Made in the Marine Corps, by Sgt Nelson Duenas, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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