The few, the proud... the six Marines
“Tell your boys, thank you.” Darlene Lewis-Lucas of Alexandria has heard that a lot and never tires of hearing it. She also won’t hesitate to talk about her three Marine sons and three Marine grandsons. At age 77, Darlene has a lot to be proud of and having six Marines in her family is one of them.By: Stacie Kimball, Alexandria Echo Press
- Daniel and Justin Lewis
- Joshua Lewis
- Darlene Lewis-Lucas
“Tell your boys, thank you.”
Darlene Lewis-Lucas of Alexandria has heard that a lot and never tires of hearing it. She also won’t hesitate to talk about her three Marine sons and three Marine grandsons.
At age 77, Darlene has a lot to be proud of and having six Marines in her family is one of them.
She has seven children and three of her boys served in the Marines. Today, those three men each have a son who is a Marine.
“I take a lot of pride in that,” she said with a smile as she sat at her kitchen table.
Darlene’s sons looked upon joining the Marines as the perfect opportunity to go to college. She encouraged her boys to follow their dreams and was happy with their decision.
“I knew the Marines were the best and the toughest and they might as well go for the best,” she said.
Recently, 36 of Darlene’s children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren came together to celebrate the holidays, but three that were not in attendance included her three Marine grandsons.
Joshua Lewis is a first lieutenant attached to the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines. He is currently serving in Afghanistan where his duties include logistics and equipment readiness.
Captain Daniel Lewis is a battalion forward air controller serving with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit that is sailing in the West Pacific Ocean. He is responsible for coordinating all air assets in support of his battalion’s ground forces.
First Lieutenant Justin Lewis is the executive officer for the weapons company of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines. He is also currently serving with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit in the West Pacific. He is tasked with providing heavy organic fire support and coordinating mortar, anti-armor and heavy machine gun support for all units.
The grandmother of 15 likes to keep in touch with her grandchildren by phone.
“I like to hear their voices,” Darlene explained. “I guess I am a little old-fashioned that way.”
But with three of her grandsons overseas, she can’t always do that.
She stays well informed about her grandsons through e-mails that are exchanged between her husband, Sy, and the deployed Marines.
With a twinkle in her eye, Darlene shared that her oldest grandson wanted homemade buns. Although when the buns made it there, a little mold had developed on a couple of the homemade treats.
She laughed out loud and said, “He told me they just picked that part off.”
As an active Eagles member, she is pleased with the organization’s support of the Blue Star Mothers, a military support group dedicated to helping troops and assisting military families.
Darlene doesn’t deny that she worries about her grandsons.
“You always get a little scared,” she remarked. “We just say lots of prayers.”
Concerned with how her grandsons’ deployment affects their own wives and families, she said, “It’s not as hard on me as it is their families.”
Darlene explained that her faith runs deep.
“I firmly believe that God knows how we are all going to die and he isn’t going to take one of these boys on foreign soil. But, if he does, they would be doing something that they love,” she professed. She continued, “It’s really hard to be unhappy with that.”
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