SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AND THE PERSIAN GULF CRISIS : Parents of 3 Army Sons Fear a Triple Tragedy

When their three Army sons were sent to Saudi Arabia, Ben and Dolly Lozano figured someone had made a mistake. Vietnam veterans had told them that a World War II-era policy prohibited siblings from being stationed together in a combat zone.

But so far the Lozanos’ campaign to have at least one of their sons transferred to safer territory has failed. Army officials say they have no such policy and only if one son died would the others be sent elsewhere.

“I’m trying to keep a tragedy from happening again. And I’m not getting anywhere,” a sometimes tearful Dolly Lozano said Monday, comparing her plight to that of the Sullivan family of Waterloo, Iowa, which lost five sons in a single naval battle near Guadalcanal during World War II.

The Lozano brothers--Rene, 24, Benny, 20, and Robert, 19--now appear to be stationed within a few miles of each other, judging by their letters and phone calls, Dolly Lozano said. The Lozanos’ sons, all unmarried, are their only children.

A campaign that started with letters to Congress led a press conference Monday in Hollywood and an appearance on CNN’s “Sonja Live” talk show, as well as plans to appear on NBC’s “Today Show” this morning.

Whether the Lozanos have a case is unclear. Maj. Doug Hart, a Department of Defense spokesman, said that because the brothers serve in separate units, their assignments are within military guidelines. “It is possible for them to be assigned in the same area as long as they’re in separate units,” Hart said.

It was the Navy, during World War II, that prohibited brothers from serving on the same ship. But naval officials waived that regulation at the behest of the Sullivan brothers, who wanted to serve together.

After they died, along with 700 men in the sinking of the Juneau near Guadalcanal in November, 1942, the naval policy was re-emphasized. The Navy called the deaths “the greatest single blow suffered by one family . . . probably in American naval history.”

Their deaths became a rallying point in the war. A movie was made about the family and, in their honor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt named a destroyer The Sullivans.

The Lozanos, who live in Mendota, a rural community near Fresno, had not expected such a crisis in their lives, in part because their youngest son is not a member of the regular Army, but of an Army National Guard unit. Rene, a member of the 82nd Airborne Division, was the first Lozano to be stationed in Saudi Arabia. Robert’s National Guard unit was activated and shipped out in November, and Benny’s unit, based in Germany, was sent to Saudi Arabia three weeks ago.

The Lozanos began their campaign in November with letters to their congressman, Rep. Gary Condit (D-Ceres), and then-Sen. Pete Wilson, requesting help in the transfer of one son.

A reply from Army congressional liaison Teresa T. Ray, relayed through Wilson’s office, stated in part: “When multiple service members are serving in a hostile-fire area, if a service member of a family is killed or dies when serving, other service members of the same family shall be exempt, on request, from serving in designated hostile-fire area.”

The letter struck the Lozanos as callous. Dolly Lozano, an elementary school teacher, stressed that her sons “are proud to be serving their country. They love their country and they’re willing to die for it. . . .

“I believe our government is trying to bring human standards to other parts of the world. But what about here?” With the Jan. 15 deadline for possible war approaching, “I’m just praying that someone in Congress does something,” she added.

In discussions with their sons, the Lozanos decided to seek a reassignment for Robert, in part because he is the youngest and had not joined the regular Army.