Band of Brothers
Bringing Light to a Dark War
by Jill Adair

Many families are making sacrifices to have family members serve in Iraq and Afghanistan. But for the Rogers family from the small town of Eagar in eastern Arizona, the sacrifice is three-fold.

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“I’ve run the whole gamut of emotions,” says Debbie Rogers, who, with her husband, Hank, is relying on faith to deal with having their three youngest of six sons serve in a war zone.

Last year, nineteen-year-old Wes was two weeks into the Missionary Training Center, preparing to serve a mission to Paraguay, when he and his twenty-one-year-old brother, Jackson, were called up to active duty with the National Guard’s 222nd Transportation Company. Jackson, who had recently returned from a mission to Serbia, was working and looking forward to starting college.

The brothers joined the Reserves while attending high school; both had gone through basic training before their senior years. Since Wes had received a two-year deferment to serve a mission and was already at the MTC, the family petitioned to postpone his duty. However, the petition was denied.

Hank Jr., 26, also a returned missionary and a national pole-vaulting champion, was attending Arizona State University on scholarship and just two months from graduation when he heard about his brothers’ call to serve. Out of love and loyalty, he signed up on condition that he could be in the same company as his brothers and left immediately for basic training.

“Someone’s got to go watch over my little brothers,” Hank told his parents.

Wes received a warm send-off from the MTC, but said he was amazed at how many elders asked him why he had signed up. “I chose to serve my country so you can have the freedom to serve your mission,” was his reply.

The brothers are currently stationed at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait and serve in the 57th Transportation Battalion, which routinely travels through combat zones in Iraq. The brothers never ride in the same vehicle, although they have been assigned the same convoy.

When at base camp, the Rogers attend Sunday meetings with about thirty other LDS members. The brothers all agree that this provides a great source of strength and peace for each of them.

“Church has always been place where I’m able to forget about everything and focus on the things that really matter in life, even if it is only for a little while,” Hank says.

Jackson says he and his brothers participate in Church as often as they are in base camp; giving talks, lessons or helping with the sacrament.

“It is quite nice to have a role and be able to help out,” he explains.

Wes says that church is the one thing that helps him feel peace and comfort. “It helps me recharge and make it through some of these hard circumstances, and for me the road side bombs are not my biggest worry; I worry about offending the spirit and not having him with me, so I always try to live so I can have his spirit to be with me.”

Wes says he appreciates the sacrifices that his family is making to have three soldiers serving. “I know that my parents are being blessed for their sacrifice,” he notes. He looks forward to serving his mission when he returns home.

Hank encourages those at home to continue to pray. “Pray for the leaders of this country,” he says. “Pray for the Iraqi people. Pray for those who would do us harm that their hearts might be softened. Show your support. Regardless of your political views on the war, there are a lot of people over here that do put their lives on the line everyday for what they believe to be in defense of a country that grants these freedoms.”

Hank Sr. said he also appreciates the power of prayer and said the outpouring of support for his family has been incredible.

“There hasn’t been a day gone by that I haven’t heard people telling me that they’ll be praying for my boys,” he says.

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