Photo By Sgt. Rodney Foliente | Sgt. Jordane Lovin, Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry...... read more read more
Subscribe
CAMP ECHO, Iraq — Typically, deployment marks a separation from family. It can be a difficult sacrifice that walks hand-in-hand with selfless service to answer the nation's call.
Occasionally, however, circumstances may actually bring family members together and strengthen the bond between them.
Sgt. Jordane Lovin, Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division signal intelligence analyst, received a visit from her older brother, Pfc. Robert Lovin, 10th Sustainment Brigade quartermaster specialist, at Camp Echo April 4.
The siblings have not been able to spend time together since Jordane graduated high school in 2003 and joined the Army, leaving their home in Erie, Pa.
"I honestly thought Iraq would be the last place I would see her," said Robert, who has been stationed at Victory Base Complex in Baghdad since May. When he found out his sister was coming to Iraq, he tried to coordinate to see her. He took the request to his chain of command, and was approved for a four-day visit to Camp Echo. When he found out he said he couldn't contain his excitement.
"I went outside and actually started jumping up and down for joy when I found out," he said. Jordane responded to the mental image by making fun of him. After a shared laugh, she admitted that she was also excited when she learned his unit would let him visit.
"I'm very grateful that they did. Since I'm a late deployer, I don't get to go home on leave, so I was very happy that he came down to Camp Echo. It was pretty awesome," said Jordane, who deployed in January to join the rest of the 2nd BCT, which deployed in September. Jordane was held back from deployment until she had appropriate dwell time after a tour in Korea.
The 23-year-old said she was very excited for him to see how much she had changed, but admitted being a bit anxious for the same reason.
Jordane has been in the Army for more than five years and Robert joined 18 months ago. He said he respects Jordane's experience and military knowledge and often asks her for advice in Army matters. His goal, however, is to match her in rank one day, which she claims will never happen.
"Her joining made me want to join," said Robert, 24. "I'm glad I took her advice and joined the Army." He said the Army is taking care of his family and he doesn't have to worry about his wife, Amy, their four-year-old son, Dustin, and daughter, Haley, 3.
Robert recently re-enlisted for six years. Jordane re-enlisted last year for four. Both said the Army has been good to them and they plan on staying in for awhile.
They said they would one day like to be stationed on the same post, possibly Fort Carson, Colo. Though if that happened, they both joked, they would drive each other crazy.
"I think we're pretty close," she said of the whole family relationship. Jordane and Robert have seven siblings, including four step-siblings. "As far as not seeing each other for a while, we still talk to each other and e-mail." She said using the Web-cam helps close the distance as well.
They said their family is very proud to carry on the tradition of serving their country, even through the hardships of separation. They both said they miss the rest of the family but took solace in each other's company, reveling in their micro-family reunion.
| Date Taken: | 04.11.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 04.15.2009 13:07 |
| Story ID: | 32417 |
| Location: | DIWANIYAH, IQ |
| Web Views: | 306 |
| Downloads: | 285 |
This work, Deployment brings brother, sister together, by SGT Rodney Foliente, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
