MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Their mother was a stay-at-home mom raising three boys and their older sister in Hazen, North Dakota. Then their father picked-up and left.
Enduring this hardship, the family came together and grew stronger and closer than they ever had.
Unbeknownst to each other, two of the brothers signed their names on the proverbial dotted-line to go further from the support of their family than they ever had before.
After being apart for the better part of two years, Cpl. Andrew Barwick, at the time of interview a logs and records specialist with Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 242, and Lance Cpl. James Barwick, an avionics technician with VMFA(AW)-121, were once again united in the land of the rising sun.
Besides the last name, on face there is virtually nothing to indicate these two are related.
Andrew Barwick, 26, talks slow and methodically to precisely communicate his points.
His responses to questions come off as a dialogue with himself as though he is logically rationalizing his answer as he goes along.
James Barwick, 20, is virtually the opposite. He speaks quickly and doesn’t linger over the explanation.
Despite their age difference of six years, the core motivation for joining the Marine Corps seems very similar.
“I had looked at how I had spent my five years out of high school and I honestly wasn’t too much farther ahead after five years than I had been right out of high school,” said Andrew Barwick.
Andrew Barwick had vacillated between pursuing employment as a paralegal and doing construction work.
“I knew that even though the Marine Corps would ask for at least 4 years active ... that it would be 4 years that would give me a paycheck regardless, with full medical and dental and I would be able to get whatever education I wanted after the four years,” said Andrew Barwick.
Ultimately unhappy with his progress, Andrew saw the Marine Corps as a way to get ahead both professionally and financially.
Although joining much earlier age wise, James Barwick had considered the military when he first entered high school.
“I actually wanted to make an impact in the world that would be noticeable, and to actually feel like I’ve accomplished something purposeful with my life,” said James Barwick.
The prospect of staying in Hazen simply wasn’t enough for James Barwick.
“I’ve grown up in a small town and there aren’t too many opportunities; there isn’t much available,” he said. “I didn’t want my life to go away.”
In a sense, both brothers realized they needed to do something more with their lives.
While college was a possibility for both, similar reasons held them back.
The straightforward answer was money, but Andrew Barwick clarified his rationale at length.
He said at the time he didn’t know how to target his education for a career because he wasn’t certain what he wanted to do and investing the time compounded the potential debt factor.
But despite their desires to make a change in their respective lives, neither was fully prepared for the separation the Marine Corps would ask of them.
“Two years doesn’t seem like a long time until you get over here and you’re separated from your family,” said Andrew Barwick. “All of the sudden, two years went from not a lot of time to oh my God I can’t believe it’s taking this long to go by.”
For him, this wasn’t his first time away from home, but it was his first time so far away and for such a long time.
Since he did have time in the fleet prior to his brother, he passed on his revelation to James Barwick who chose to request a stateside duty station.
Even still, James Barwick was fresh out of high school and really hadn’t been away from home.
“It’s been actually very difficult at times, especially joining immediately after high school and it being the first major time getting away from home for an extended period of time then to being basically almost permanently away from home with only occasional visits,” said James Barwick.
In the end, despite the Marine Corps’ demands, Andrew and James Barwick were able to spend approximately three months together here.
“It’s just the fact that we were close as a family anyway and to be able to spend time with someone like that; a lot of military people don’t get that unless they’re on leave and go home on leave,” said Andrew Barwick.
Hopefully their paths will cross again during their service.