[ WAR IN IRAQ ]
Kaneohe soldier’s CLEVELAND >> A Kaneohe man whose younger brother was listed by the Department of Defense yesterday as "Duty Status, Whereabouts Unknown" (missing in action) in Iraq said his brother followed him into military service.
brother missing
The Texas-based soldier
is part of a unit that was
ambushed on Sunday in IraqAssociated Press
Master Sgt. Robert Dowdy, 38, of Cleveland, a member of the 507th Maintenance Company of Fort Bliss, Texas, is among about 10 soldiers considered missing after an ambush Sunday.
His brother, Army Reserve Master Sgt. Jack Dowdy Jr., 40, in Kaneohe, Hawaii, said family members are "torn up over the entire matter."
"I think primarily it's because we're not a military family other than myself," he said.
A woman who answered the door at the home of Dowdy's parents in Cleveland yesterday said the military had advised the family not to talk.
The elder Dowdy said he went into the military, and then Robert followed a couple of years later and has been in service for 18 years. He is two years from retirement, his brother said.
"This is a major disaster for the family because nobody expected or had a clue it was going to happen," he said.
The Department of Defense has said two soldiers were killed in the ambush.
In addition, five soldiers are being held as prisoners of war.
Jack Dowdy said his brother has a wife and teenage daughter in DeRidder, La.
"That was probably the biggest joy in his life, was having a daughter," he said.
Jack Dowdy said he last heard from his brother, the third of four children, through e-mail.
"He was dedicated, of course, to the military. Wherever they sent him, he automatically went," he said, adding his brother liked to run and had entered various racing events.
"I can tell you that he was a very patriotic and very loyal man who loved his country," he said. "To my knowledge he just wanted to serve his country to the best of his ability before he retired."
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