Fittingly, the actions of the older brother altered the life path of his younger sibling. “When Brandon got back from one of his deployments to Iraq, he told me all about being in different countries, and seeing things not a lot of people get to see in their lifetime,” Joshua said. “It sounded great, so that’s basically why I joined. Now I get to see lots of cool places and have stories to tell my kids when I‘m older.”
Upon arrival to Orgun, the Sitton brothers were told they’d be roommates for the duration of their tour. Often, brothers who are together almost every day don’t always appreciate the arrangement. Not the Sitton boys.
“When we’re not deployed, we hang out with each other every day anyway,” said Brandon. “We live in the same house back home, and we have pretty much the same friends and hobbies. It’s kind of neat. We’re real close, and not all brothers are. We do everything together, so it’s cool to do this together too.”
For many parents, having a deployed servicemember can be a difficult thing to deal with. The Sitton family has 2 to worry about at once. “We're the only kids in our family, so it’s difficult for them, but they understand it,” said Joshua. “My mom is a very proud, very patriotic person. She says as long as I am serving with my brother, it’s a good thing. We can see the same stuff and have the same experiences.”
“She’s actually more comfortable with both of us here,” said Brandon. “I had a choice whether or not to deploy with this unit. My mom said she’d feel better if we were both here together. I was going to come anyway, but I’m glad she agreed with me.”
"The Sitton brothers are 2 of my best soldiers,” said Army Master Sgt. Charles Coleman, the plt sgt for the Paktika PRT detachment. “They work very hard to accomplish the mission, and keep morale high. During stressful times they pull together and pull others with them, and are always highly motivated."
“I’ve been working with TF Bayonet for years, right here in Afghanistan. I know your capabilities; I know how you fight; I know how you trained before you came here, and it was hard. It was tough; you sweated a lot, and you hurt a lot, but it was just to make you better for this op,” said Capel. “I know what you’ve been through, and I just want to say thank you for what you've done to help defend and protect our country.”
Before the CJTF-82 command sgt. maj. concluded his visit, he offered more encouraging words to the Sky Soldiers. “We'll continue to fight this war to protect the freedom of the USA, and to protect the freedom of the Afghan people. You’re building a country that was torn down to rock bottom,” said Capel.
Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Capel honored a select group of ‘Sky Soldiers.’
Shaykh Majid of the Iraqi capital’s Jamia Support Council helps deliver supplies to area orphans. Majid, who is responsible for providing assistance to the orphans, coordinated the drop with Soldiers from the 422nd CAB, and the 4th Stryker BCT, 2nd ID.
Shaykh Majid from the JSC was involved in providing material support to local orphans, and approached the civil affairs Soldiers about the possibility of getting some supplies for the children. However, Winchester explained that process was easier said than done. "It's not a simple thing to say we're going to go on in and deliver some humanitarian assistance," he said.
During his last deployment, Winchester had worked with a U.S. based NGO, Op Give, which had provided humanitarian assistance supplies to his unit. Contacting them again, he was able to arrange for 20 tons of supplies to be donated and sent to Iraq for distribution.Some of those humanitarian supplies were divided into care packages, broken down by age and gender, boxed up and handed out to the orphans, or handed out at other locations."Today established some credibility that we're able to deliver," he said. "What we're doing here is trying to develop some follow-on support." During the humanitarian drop, Winchester was able to meet with members of an Iraqi NGO that, if properly vetted, could be able to work directly with U.S. based NGOs like Op Give, through something known as the Denton Program. Under the program, he explained, the U.S. govt will pay for the transportation of humanitarian supplies between credentialed NGOs. This would enable the orphans and other Iraqis in need, to continue receiving aid long after Winchester and other U.S. Soldiers have left Iraq.Col. Jeff Holmes, cmdr, 278th ACR, 13th ESC, places the combat patch on his son, Spc. Hulon Holmes, a gunner with 3rd Plt, F Troop, 2nd Sqdrn, 278th ACR, during a ceremony at JBB, April 8, 2010.
This is Hulon Holmes' first deployment, and he said receiving the combat patch is special. "It's kind of an honor to be able to receive something like this, knowing that I've been here with these guys making a difference," he said.
He said it was an honor to be patched by his father. "I didn't expect that this would be able to happen," he said. "It was nice to see him in general, but for him to be able to put the patch on me, was a great moment."