September 22, 2004

Service siblings unfurl flag

Devin and Skye Parent raise American flag at CHS football game

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer

       The heat, sweat and dust did not dent       Her heart swelled with pride, June Gauthier watched her two grown sons raise the American flag Saturday evening before the Traverse City Central Trojan football game.
      As the National Anthem played over the loudspeakers and the flag snapped in the breeze, Devin Parent, 18, and Skye Parent, 22, stood at attention and gave their best salutes. The brothers joined the armed forces earlier this year, Skye the Air Force and Devin the Marine Corps.
      Both young men are on leave before moving on to their next duty station. Pat Bowen, a secretary at Central, tapped the pair for the ceremony and Skye, a 2000 graduate of Central High School, was thrilled to return to assist his alma mater.
      "It was awesome, actually," he said. "It felt really good to come back now that I'm part of the Air Force and do that."
      As for June Gauthier, having two sons in uniform meant she and her husband, Vern, traveled to two graduations from basic training this year: Skye's in San Antonio, Texas, and Devin's in San Diego, Calif.
      "I am very proud, I just think it is the best thing they could have done," she said. "Everybody's proud of both of them."
      Skye decided to join the Air Force this spring, prompted in part by his brother's goal-oriented focus on the Marine Corps. After talking with recruiters from other branches, Skye chose the Air Force, began basic training in April and recently completed fire fighting school. After his leave, he will relocate to his next posting at the Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Ala.
      "My recruiter really sold me on what the Air Force had to offer and the fire fighting just kind of fell in my lap," said Skye, who played basketball for the Trojans. "I never thought I could see myself joining the military until I went and asked questions and figured out what it was all about."
      Devin, a 2004 graduate of Elk Rapids High School, joined the Marine Corps on a delayed enlistment while still in high school. He headed to basic training shortly after completing the school year, missing his commencement ceremony. He finished basic training earlier this month and will work in avionics, which is supporting weapons systems for aircraft. After another three-week training stint in California, he will be stationed in Pensacola, Fla.
      The cachet of belonging to the Marine Corps motivated him to sign up while still 17.
      "A lot of our family members have been in the service," said Devin, who received an expert marksmanship medal in the M-16 A2 service rifle. "We had an uncle in Korea and my dad was in the Navy and a cousin in the Air Force, she's a staff sergeant."
      Bowen suggested the Parent brothers as flag raisers when Gunnery Sergeant Paul Meggison, a local Marine Corps recruiter could not make the event. Meggison previously agreed to raise the flag at all the Trojan home football games this season but a conflict arose for last Saturday.
      "It is an honor to do it for Traverse City Central, it is always an honorable thing to raise the flag," said Meggison. "I would say it also publicizes the Marine Corps and, as a recruiter, I want to be in the public eye at all times."
      Bowen, who has recruited Skye to talk to some classes at Central while on leave, believes in giving high school students options for after graduation.
      "It's just a good thing for the kids to see, that there's something else from college," she noted of the armed services.