| Place a Classified | Subscribe today | July 9, 2009 |
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Local brothers in Navy
POCATELLO - Every night, 5-year-old Bryson Jacobson kneels to say his custom version of the Lord's Prayer.
''Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. May the angels watch over me, and wake me with the morning light.'' Bryson's dad, Brian, changed the original words because Bryson didn't like the part about dying before he wakes. After reciting the prayer, Bryson adds his own words.
''Dear Heavenly Father,'' he prays nightly, ''please protect my daddy and my uncle, Toran. And tell them I love them. Amen.'' Pocatellans Brian and Toran Jacobson both continued the trend started by their grandfather, father and stepfather of joining the military. Brian, 29, signed on with the Navy 11 years ago, and his younger brother, Toran, 25, joined the same branch five years ago.
''They both have very strong convictions of this country,'' said their mother, Linda Quinn. ''They just truly believe in doing what they can to serve this country.'' Brian was recently deployed to Bahrain to work as a medic on a wooden mine-sweeping boat that patrols the outside border of Iraq. It's his second deployment, and this one will last nine months. His mother said the nine months will be excruciating for Brian because, as a single parent, he was forced to leave behind his young son.
''There are some days that (Bryson) just misses his daddy,'' Quinn said. ''As a single parent, it's just the two of them the majority of the time, so it's hard on both of them when they're apart.'' Brian stays in contact with Bryson through e-mails and occasional phone calls. Bryson, who is staying with Quinn and her husband, lights up when a letter arrives from his dad.
Quinn said she reads the letters to Bryson, who is still learning how to sound out words, and he always wants to respond immediately. Usually the same evening he gets a letter, Bryson dictates to Grandma what he wants to say in an e-mail back to his dad. ''He always wants to make sure Daddy knows he loves him and that he prays for him,'' Quinn said.
Quinn understands how hard it is for Brian to be separated from his son, as she has both of hers stationed thousands of miles from home with limited contact. In addition to having Brian stationed in Bahrain, her youngest son, Toran, is serving in Okinawa, Japan, where he is training to be a field medic for troops in Iraq. Toran's focus will be assisting soldiers with severe wounds, a job that will place him in heated battle zones.
With one son testing for mines and another son bound for the most dangerous parts of Iraq, Quinn feels somewhat helpless. ''All you can do is pray a lot,'' Quinn said. ''You just pray that they'll come home.''
Although the Iraq war has transplanted her sons from Pocatello to dangerous territory, Quinn supports the decision made by President George Bush to send the troops to the Middle East. She said her sons have told her several times that ''it is different than you think over here.'' They're disappointed that more of the positive aspects of the U.S. military's presence in Iraq aren't portrayed in the media.
''They say, 'Mom, they're not showing you all the good that's being done,''' Quinn said. ''A lot of people don't think this way, but I think Bush did all he could to preserve this country. Had he not have done this, we would be in serious harm's way right now.'' Quinn was married to her first husband when he was in the military, but she said it has been completely different going through a similar experience with her sons. She said her motherly instincts cause her to worry more about her sons. But the pride she feels for her sons has served as the greatest suppressant to her fears. ''I'm proud of the empathy they have for other people and for their strength,'' Quinn said. ''They've grown up to be strong men and they both care so much about other people. I believe they felt it was their duty to join the military. They felt it was where they were supposed to be.'' By Adam Chambers achambers@journalnet.com Article RatingReader CommentsSubmit a CommentCommenting RulesWe encourage your feedback and dialog. All comments are subject to deletion by our Web staff.
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