Gomez family talk pride, race in the military

The Gomez Family (Army) Gumersindo Gomez, 71, of Springfield, Massachusetts, served 20 years in the Army and saw combat in Vietnam. His wife, Eva Gomez, 57, served six years in the Army

Reserve. Gumersindo’s son Giovanni Gomez, 50, served three years in the Army and later went to Iraq in 2007 and 2008 as a Department of Defense employee. Grandson Tyler Rodriguez, 21, is

active-duty Army; he had just finished a tour in South Korea at the time of this interview. WHY THEY SERVED GUMERSINDO: I was born in Puerto Rico. In January 1966, my mother shipped me to

New York City to some family members. I started working in a factory, making slippers. I used to walk down 42nd Street because they had cheap hamburgers, two for a quarter. I started

watching the guys in uniform, and I started liking the uniform itself. I could remember back in my youngest days seeing my father in uniform, and my godfather, who had just come home from

the Korean War. I decided to join the Army, not even really knowing there was a war going on. I went to basic and advanced training at Fort Dix, New Jersey. From there I went to Vietnam. I

went to war.  EVA: When I was growing up, in the 1960s and ’70s, my parents were strict, but I wanted to do everything a man could do. In our culture, at the time, men were the leaders and

you had to do everything under a man. So I was always competing to see what a man could do that I could not. I wanted to try something different and not get married yet, like all my sisters

did, so I joined the Army Reserve in 1981. I ended up training under one of the companies of which Gumersindo was the senior drill sergeant. That’s how I met my husband! Now we have a big

family, and our grandson has joined the military. If our kids and grandkids make that decision, we respect that. We cannot put that fear in them: “Oh, you cannot join the military because

you’re going to die.” You can’t live your life with fear. Gumersindo Gomez, right, in 1983, and his son Giovanni, left, in 1989, both served in the Army. Photos Courtesy the Gomez family

TYLER: For me, it started in high school. I wasn’t doing well. I got in trouble my senior year, and I couldn’t play football. One day I was playing video games and my mom said, “Get dressed.

We got to go somewhere.” I asked, “Where?” She said, “You’ll see when we get there.” It was snowing, and we came up in the car. I saw the sign: “Armed Forces Recruitment Center.” I was,

like, Oh, God! No!