100 more isle marines deploy to Iraq

The Brown family deals with two sons' deployment to Iraq

For the second time in a year, Mary Brown said goodbye to her to son, Timothy, as he left to serve in the Middle East.

But it will not get any easier for her, because her son-in-law will be deploying to the same area next month.

"It's hard, it's never easy," said Mary Brown, 41. "I never thought I would set him in harm's way."

About 100 Marines of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, departed yesterday from Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe for a seven-month deployment to Iraq. An additional 900 Marines from the same regiment will join them next month in Al-Anbar province. Also, 30 Marines with the Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 24 deployed to Iraq.

The Brown family has a father, son and son-in-law who are all active Marines. Both Timothy Brown Jr. and brother-in-law Allen Lee serve in the same battalion. Brown's father, Master Sgt. Timothy Brown Sr., works for the Combat Services Support Group 3 at Marine Corps Base Hawaii. The Brown family has lived in Hawaii for 11 years.

In January the battalion returned from a seven-month tour in Afghanistan. Lance Cpl. Brown introduced Sgt. Lee to his sister shortly afterward.

"He gave the blessing for us to start going out," Melissa Lee said, joking that they nicknamed her brother "the Don" afterward. Melissa and Allen were married on July 28.

"With my mom being a spouse, she's actually helped me become mentally prepared for my brother and my husband getting ready to be deployed," Melissa Lee, 24, said. "You never truly get used to it. It's just something that you kind of adapt to."

Mary Brown, a Marine spouse for 24 years, said, "You learn to adapt and go with the flow, and turn to the families and build that camaraderie back here. We are a very tight group."

Brown's sister said, "He'll get on the bus and that's when it'll actually hit."

Allen Lee, 23, said his wife is going to be sad after her brother's deployment.

"It's going to be a bad night," Lee said. "I'll keep it nonmilitary for the night."

But Timothy Brown, 21, said he looks forward to having Lee with him overseas again.

"You can double up in brotherhood because you have brother-in-arms and now he's also a brother-in-law," he said.

Timothy Brown Sr. held his wife after watching his son climb into the bus. Earlier, he recalled his son's experience in Afghanistan.

"He actually was pretty shaken up," Brown said. "One of his buddies got hit by an IED (improvised explosive device). He was supposed to be the driver of the vehicle, but he got pulled off in the last minute," Brown said.

"I'll be honest with you, you don't want to see your son go," Brown said. "I'd rather be going."