3 Brothers From California, and Guatemala, Are in the Navy Now

From their roots in Guatemala to their current home here in the Persian Gulf, the Casasola brothers are carrying America’s historical bond between immigrants and the armed forces into the 21st century.

Much like the real-life Sullivan brothers who inspired Steven Spielberg’s film “Saving Private Ryan,” all three sons of Florencia Casasola are sacrificing home and comfort to fight for their adopted nation.

“I wish I was with my family, but we have a job to do,” said Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Melvin Casasola, 24, the youngest of the three from Cudahy, who works as a night-shift maintenance technician for the “Fist of the Fleet” F/A-18 Hornet squadron on the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln.

The brothers are spread among three Navy ships in the crowded war theater, with 26-year-old Milton serving aboard the carrier Constellation and 27-year-old Livni on the Dubuque, an amphibious transport dock.

Their physical separation probably ensures that they will never meet the fate of the Sullivans, five brothers of Irish origin from Iowa who enlisted together in World War II and perished aboard the light cruiser Juneau when it was sunk by a Japanese torpedo in November 1942.

Florencia, the mother who made her own brave journey in 1985 to seek a better life for her four children, worries about their safety so far from the home she created. A widow fleeing her war-torn native land, she worked as a cleaning woman for a decade before landing a steady job and legal papers that allowed her to bring her three sons and daughter Liceta to California in 1994.

“They say they are OK,” Florencia Casasola said by telephone at the home she shares with her 22-year-old daughter. The sons phone occasionally and e-mail regularly, Florencia said.

News from the war hits home. Recently, Marine Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez, who also was born in Guatemala, was killed in Iraq.

“She gets a little scared from all the TV news and stuff, but we’re really pretty safe,” Melvin said. “I tell her that everyone faces danger in so many ways in normal life and that we aren’t really in any more risk on a ship. We have to be aware of what’s around us and do our jobs right so the planes fly safely, but it’s not like being with the ground forces.”

Melvin Casasola just reenlisted for a six-year term, hoping to use shore duty to take college courses and earn a degree in computer science. With his Navy experience, he hopes to land a job someday with a civilian airline or aviation company.

In an earlier interview aboard the Constellation, which was steaming close enough to this carrier for the ships to jointly launch 24-hour flight operations, Petty Officer 2nd Class Milton Casasola said that the events of Sept. 11 were a motivating factor in his and Melvin’s reenlistments and their older brother’s signing up for Navy duty.

“It was a reminder that you have to defend your country, that our freedom shouldn’t be taken for granted,” Milton said. “Iraq has to be disarmed, and we want to be part of it.”

Livni Casasola, a ship’s operations seaman, gave up night-school classes and a part-time sales job six months ago to join the Navy, Melvin said.

Although the brothers are almost within shouting distance of one another in the Persian Gulf, they haven’t met face to face in a year and depend on e-mail to communicate, like most others serving on ships in the region.

They thought about trying to serve together but found that their enlistment dates put them in line for different assignments. They also took a lesson from the Sullivan brothers’ experience, deciding it was best to spread the risk -- a decision that comforted their mother.

After the Sullivan brothers were killed, Congress contemplated a bill banning siblings from serving together in combat units or aboard the same ship. The measure never passed, and the Navy has no official policy discouraging such service.

At least one pair of brothers serves aboard the Lincoln and other siblings are spread across the fleet on separate vessels.

Fermin Fosado of Commerce is a maintenance crew member on the Lincoln, working on the E-2C Hawkeyes that fly protective cover for airstrikes. Once the carrier Nimitz arrives to relieve this carrier group, he will be headed out of harm’s way. But with the rotation will come his brother.

“Our parents are kinda scared about the whole thing,” Fosado said. “We try to put them at ease, but parents can’t help but worry.”