For Brother and Sister, the Terrorist Attack Affirms Decision to Join Navy

Rodrigo and Denise Barreto didn’t grow up thinking about war. When the Burbank brother and sister signed up for the Navy earlier this year, their thoughts ran to travel and study, not battle.

But the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have only strengthened the will of the two eldest children of Mexican immigrants, even if their parents raised them on messages of peace.

“I see serving my country as an honor,” said Rodrigo Barreto, 19, who leaves for boot camp Dec. 15. “People died to make this country what it is, and I am going to do my part to keep it strong.”

If those sentiments seem counterintuitive coming from members of the MTV generation, the Barreto siblings are not alone.

Since Sept. 11, patriotic young men and women have shown up at recruiting stations across Southern California, recruiters say.

Denise, 18, shipped out two weeks ago for basic training at the Navy’s Great Lakes Recruit Training Command in Illinois. She couldn’t wait to go.

“Actually, when I saw what happened on Sept. 11, I don’t know, it was all just so sad,” Denise said in a telephone interview. “It made me want to get here as soon as possible.”

The brother-sister recruits say their service is worth the opportunities they would otherwise be unable to afford: a college education, international travel and, perhaps most important, sending money home to their impoverished parents and two younger brothers.

But after the terrorist attacks, Denise said she was motivated by something much bigger. “The main reason I wanted to join the Navy before was to travel and to feel like I really had the right to live here, kind of like to pay back a little what this country has given me,” she said.

“But I think the reason for me joining has kind of changed. It’s kind of the ‘Let’s get ‘em’ kind of attitude now. I know my parents think that’s negative--they don’t really believe in war--but this happened to innocent people.”

In North Hollywood, Navy recruiter Arron Webster was impressed with Rodrigo Barreto.

“He shows a lot of maturity. He has a lot of potential, and he has a positive attitude,” the petty officer said. “I think he will do very well.”

In recent years, with no mandatory draft and a prosperous economy, recruiting young people has been tough, recruiters say. That changed in a matter of weeks.

At a U.S. Army station in Bakersfield, officials said 80 men came in the day of the attacks, four times the usual number. In Pasadena, 11 walk-ins showed up at an Army recruiting office, compared to the normal average of one.

Whether the surge in interest translates into qualified recruits has yet to be seen, said Cmdr. Steve Lowry, a spokesman for the Navy Recruiting Command in Millington, Tenn., adding that the number of visitors to its Web site and calls to a toll-free recruitment line spiked after the attacks.

“We have been gratified by interest and the outpouring of support,” Lowry said, “but nationally there has not been an increase in qualified applicants.”

For Rodrigo, the terrorist attacks confirmed his decision to protect America. “I thought there weren’t going to be any more wars, and then this happens. I felt like I had to do something,” he said.

On the day of the attacks, the Barreto siblings talked soberly about their decisions to enlist and how it would change their lives. Still, they never wavered.

“Denise never mentioned that she wanted to change her mind,” her brother said. “She was very brave. Something like the attacks was not going to sway her.”

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Times staff writer Nita Lelyveld contributed to this story.