U.S. Marine Corps Gysgt. David Emerton, equal opportunity advisor for Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, watches his brother Staff Sgt. Billy Emerton, a flight equipment technician, with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 242, Marine Aircraft Group 12, 1st Marine Air Wing. Answering the nation’s call has always been a proud tradition in many American homes. Marines having siblings who also serve in the armed forces is nothing new, but for the Emerton brothers, their service has been closer than most. (Lcpl. David Getz, U.S. Marine Corps)
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan – Answering the nation’s call has always been a proud tradition in many American homes. Marines having siblings who also serve in the armed forces is nothing new, but for the Emerton brothers, their service has been closer than most.
“We were close before joining, so it made it that much harder when I joined and realized that I was going to be away from home; be away from my brother,” said Gunnery Sgt. David Emerton, the equal opportunity advisor for Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan.
“Me and my brother have always had a really good relationship. I mean, I’m the oldest, he’s the baby,” David said. “We never really butted heads. We didn’t have any issues. We did everything together.”
Gunnery Sgt. David Emerton and Staff Sgt. Billy Emerton, a flight equipment technician, with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 242, Marine Aircraft Group 12, 1st Marine Air Wing, grew up together in Huntsville, Texas.
“Our mom worked during the day. After school, my brother and I hung out all the time. We would come home, make sure we did our homework, and then we’d spend the entire night playing games, or we’d go outside to play basketball or football, wrestle with each other, and go back to laughing about it,” David said. “We did a lot of things together back then, all of us, and just spent all of our time in our little area.”
David, being the older brother, finished school and dreamt of becoming a professional bull rider. However, he would follow a different career path after graduation.
“We were a little too broke to get into bull riding. I saw the old Marine Corps commercial of the Marine slaying a dragon with his sword and thought, ‘that’s what I want to be.’”
David spoke to a recruiter and enlisted in the Marine Corps on July 9, 2012.
“Growing up, there’s a lot of veterans in our hometown. Seeing them and reading books about the military as a kid, seemed kind of cool,” said Billy. “I’d be lying if I said that my brother joining wasn’t an influence.”
Four years later, Billy followed in his brother’s footsteps. After enlisting on July 11th, 2016, and completing recruit training, Billy made it to his first unit at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina; coincidentally, where David was also stationed.
“I’ve changed my mind so many times. I went to boot camp, I’ve changed my mind a lot about what I wanted to do with the Marine Corps, whether I wanted to stay in the Marine Corps or not. My goal was always either make it to gunny or make it to chief warrant officer one day,” David said.
David, at the beginning of his military career, had ambitious goals for himself, staying in, and climbing up the ranks to make a career out of the Marine Corps. However, after spending some time in service, both brothers began to doubt whether the Marine Corps was for them.
“I intended on only doing one contract, I didn’t have the best leadership to start off with, so I was kind of one of those disgruntled Marines that didn’t want to reenlist.” Billy said.
For Billy, attending a residential corporal’s course offered a new perspective on the Marine Corps.
“For the first time, I had been exposed to good leadership when I attended corporal’s course,” Billy said. “Some in-depth conversations with other Marines led to me reenlisting and seeing a different perspective on the Marine Corps.”
David, on the brink of getting out of the Marine Corps, also had a last-minute change of heart and decided that the Marine Corps is where he wants to be.
“You know, at one point I thought I was going to get out. I actually denied reenlistment when I was at the schoolhouse as a sergeant, luckily enough, I had a great sergeant major. She was a fantastic leader, was willing to go to bat for me,” David said. “I knew I had to make it a career after that.”
Sgt. Maj. Tracey Nicholson was determined to help David with his reenlistment, going out of her way to constantly ensure his package was getting pushed up and approved.
“She was calling every two days to find out where my package was and to get it pushed, and she single handedly made it happen,” David said. “I got promoted a week before I was supposed to get out of the Marine Corps.”
David and Billy being stationed together, and ultimately deciding to continue their service together, allowed for them to support each other and witness the progression of each other’s careers.
“I’ve been there for a couple of my brother’s promotions. I was able to pin him to sergeant and Staff Sergeant recently,” David said. “So being stationed together has been fantastic in those aspects, because I’ve been able to see the progression of his career.”
Being the older brother, David was proud to get to watch his baby brother grow and develop himself.
“You can definitely see the growth, you can definitely see the progression he’s made, which is what’s gotten him to the point he’s at right now,” Billy said.
Even though the brothers don’t work directly together they are able to speak to the Marines under their command and see the impact they have on their careers.
“I get to hear his Marines talk about him at his reenlistments and promotion ceremonies, and just know that he is doing good,” David said. “So, it has been beneficial to me and makes me want to continue to do so.”
The impact David and Billy have on their Marines is ever-present, with both brothers holding the well-being of their Marines as their first priority.
“I love being able to see my Marines succeed and be able to promote them. It’s emotional to me. it makes me happy being able to see them continue to progress their careers, that’s a big deal to me,” David said.
While David was able to support the development of his Marines career, having his brother
stationed with him allowed both of their families to support each other and continue to grow.
“It’s nice seeing him, to watch grow his family as well, being able to be a part of that, and all of us being close is good. It’s good for our relationship,” Billy said.
Both brothers continue to come together to reminisce about the past and keep their families together through their shared passion of grilling and smoking meats.
“My father-in-law taught us both how to do it a long time ago, so it’s something that we both enjoy. So, we do that all the time and teach each other new recipes and stuff all the time, little tips and tricks that he’s found that I never knew about stuff like that.” Billy said
Having his brother not only helped David but his family too having that additional support for each other’s family.
“That’s kind of the big thing, having him here to be able to help my family get through tough times, luckily my brother was always there,” David said. “It always great having him here for the kids and my wife having the connection with his wife, it’s good for the family.”
