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Jul 4, 2007 11:35 pm US/Eastern
Cape Cod Father And Son Head To War Together
BOURNE (WBZ) ―
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Mike Kelley packs his bags for Iraq.
WBZ
More troops from New England are heading to the war zone. A group of National Guardsmen leaving Friday includes a father and son from Bourne, who serve in the same company.
Mike Kelley is getting ready for deployment to Iraq, but that is only half of his family's story. Mike's son Tom is going too. They are members of the same Army National Guard MP unit out of Rhode Island.
"It's going to be tough," Mike told WBZ's Jim Smith. "I'm going to be wondering about him, how he's doing, but I'm behind him 100 percent."
Tom Kelley is only 19. He joined the guard last year, and convinced his dad to re-enlist. Then came the deployment. Now they're in it together.
"I don't really want to go," Tom said. "But I joined the guard, and I'll be worried about my dad, but we have to go."
Wednesday night the family had a bittersweet celebration. Tom Kelley just got engaged. His dad, Mike, has only been married for less than a year. Now both men will be gone for at least a year.
"It's part of the job of a military wife," said Mike's wife Renee. "I'll be very worried about my husband and my stepson as well."
The 4th of July spirit is alive and well at the Kelley home. A father and son headed off to war together, hoping for a future July 4th when they will hopefully celebrate a homecoming.
Mike Kelley has another son who is a member of the Vermont National Guard. If he was deployed to Iraq, one of the Kelley's would have to come home. Pentagon policy prohibits more than two family members in a war zone.
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