Two sets of twins from area join the Marines

One set of twins comes from a military family — a Marine family in fact. The other set of twins comes from a family in which the military hasn’t had that much of an influence.

But the four young people who just graduated from high school in the last week feel the same sense of loyalty and they’re all going to become Marines.

Douglas High graduates and identical twins Andrew and Alex Hawn and Damonte High graduates and twins Holly and Jack Moore will be reporting for active duty with the U.S. Marines late this summer.

The Hawns will report to the Marine Corps Recruiting Depot in San Diego on Aug. 26. Jack will report to the MCRD in San Diego on Aug. 12 and Holly will report to the MCRD on Parris Island in South Carolina on Sept. 2. All four will then proceed to boot camp for 13 weeks.

Andrew signed up to serve in the Marines for six years while Alex signed up for four years. Jack signed up for four years while Holly signed up for five years.

All four eventually plan to use what the military has to offer to pay for a higher education, including education benefits, tuition assistance and the GI Bill. Andrew said he plans to attend a technical institute and become a mechanic.

The Hawns will join the infantry while Holly will go into intelligence and Jack will go into combat support, which could include working with tanks, artillery, amphibious vehicles or light-armored reconnaissance vehicles.

All four said they are keeping their options open as far as if they will continue to serve in the Marines after their four- to six-year contracts are up. “I haven’t decided if I want to do the whole 20 years,” Alex said. “It just depends.”

Andrew’s and Alex’s older brother, Brandon, has just completed boot camp with the Marines. Unlike their brother, though, who decided to go to college first, Andrew and Alex decided to enlist right after high school.

“I wanted to join as soon as possible,” Alex said. “We think it’s a really good decision,” Andrew said.

Their father, Brett, was a master sergeant in the military police and served 22 years in the Marines. “We pretty much knew when we were little that would were willing to become Marines and we would join at the same time,” Alex said.

“We were willing to follow in the footsteps and continue the legacy,” Andrew said.

But the twins said their father never pressured them to join the Marines. They said while their father is proud they chose the Marines, he would have supported whatever they wanted to do.

The Hawns have pretty much done everything together including playing football and running track at Douglas. Andrew ran on the Douglas 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams that qualified for the Northern 4A regionals and Andrew nearly qualified for the State Championships when the 4x100 relay finished fourth.

Jack and Holly, though, have had a different relationship than that of the Hawns. “This is the only thing we have in common,” Holly said.

Jack played basketball at Damonte Ranch while Holly was involved in student council and was the senior class vice president.

Unlike the Hawns, the Moores’ parents, Steve and Amy, never really had that much of a military influence in their family. Amy’s father served in the Army and brother served in the Navy but she said about a military influence, “it wasn’t part of my growing up.”

When Jack signed up to join the Marines, Holly pulled her parents aside and asked “why am I not signing up right now?”

Steve admitted it took him and Amy longer to accept the idea of their daughter joining the Marines. “We were still in the old school maybe,” he said.

“It took us completely by surprise,” said Amy about Holly wanting to join the Marines. “We had to know that she was that determined. It took three months to decide.”

Amy added she and Steve wanted to make sure “this is something she wanted to do.” During that whole time, Amy said Holly “was determined, never wavered. She said ‘I want to be a Marine’ and we said ‘OK.’”

“It was exciting,” added Amy about her son and daughter joining the Marines. “I’m very proud.”

“I’m very proud,” Steve said. “I was so amazed with the amount of commitment the kids are making.”

But Steve admitted his son and daughter joining the Marines has changed his outlook on life. “I find myself actually paying a little more attention to current events. Now it’s closer to home, I have a much, much greater appreciation for military families and the sacrifices they make.”

The Hawns’ mother, Heather, is one of those military family members. But even though she’s been through it before, it never gets any easier. “Excited and scared a little bit for them,” said Heather about what she’s feeling.

About why she chose intelligence, Holly said, “I wanted to serve but I also wanted something that suited my personal strengths.”

“For the challenge,” Alex said about why he’s going into the infantry. “I wanted to push my limits.”

“To see the world,” added Andrew about his choice to join the infantry.

But Alex also admitted another reason for joining the infantry. “Shooting guns sounded fun,” he said.