By KEITH GRANT
Over the next two weeks, we will continue to spotlight our local service members, some of whom have returned to their home stations after a job well done, and some of whom continue to perform their duties overseas.
Sherrell Dingle
U.S. Navy
A 1995 graduate of Long Beach High School, Sherrell Dingle has spent the past five years in the U.S. Navy. The daughter of Irene Dingle, who raised all seven of her children in Long Beach, Sherrell has been serving in the Persian Gulf aboard the USS Saipan.
We talk to her every once in a while, said her sister, Michelle. We miss her so much.
All of the Dingle children had studied nursing, Michelle said, and Sherrell has carried that skill with her into the Navy. She joined looking to do something positive for her two children, Maiya, 7, and Raven, 10.
She's just trying to do something for her girls, her babies, Michelle said. Those girls are her life.
Sherrell, who has long been involved with the Christian Light Baptist Church throughout her life, was described her sister as a true people person. She was formerly a volunteer at local nursing homes, Michelle said.
I'm proud that she's proud of serving her country, Sherrell's mom Irene said. I'm very proud of her. I'm proud that she's as brave as she is.
Giancarlo Orozco
U.S. Navy
Navy Fireman Giancarlo Orozco, the son of Isabel and Aristides
Orozco, has the distinction of being the first Long Beach native to make it all the way home from the war in Iraq.
Orozco, a 2000 graduate of LB High School, serves aboard the USS Portland, the first vessel the U.S. sent home from the conflict to its homeport in Norfolk, Va.
I never thought he'd have to go to war, Aristides said of his son. Giancarlo, he said, was a little worried about the war at first, but said he was ready to face the challenge he had ahead of him. But naturally was pretty happy to be back in the States, his father said.
Giancarlo hopes to become a police officer after his Navy stint, the family said. The former LBHS soccer player has made his family proud.
We're always concerned, Aristides said. But at the same time, we feel proud that he's doing something important for him and for the country. We understand that after Sept. 11, everything changed.
Two weeks before returning to Norfolk, Giancarlo surprised his family with a phone call.
We talked to him and thought he was still in Kuwait, his father said. I said, How's it going over there?' And he said, Well, right now we're in Spain.' We thought, Wow! This is good news!'
The family, who last saw their son during a vacation in their native Columbia coincidentally at the same time Giancarlo's ship was there, is now looking forward to a reunion with their son when he returns to Long Beach this weekend.
Stephen Edwards
U.S. Army
I think you are braver than anyone I know. I heard that the conditions over there are real terribly hot, but I know that you will be all right because you are an American, and Americans don't give up!....come back OK for Mrs. Edwards and me. You got that soldier? About face and dismiss!
U.S. Army SFC. Stephen Edwards got to enjoy that letter from Long Beach Middle School student Patrick Meyer. Stephen Barnes Edwards, a 1982 graduate of Long Beach High School, received a lot of that type of support from the school where his proud mother, Barbara Edwards, is a teacher's assistant.
The military policeman is in Iraq with the 601st MP Battalion, based in Fort Hood, Tx.. A few weeks ago, he was able to call his mother and tell her that everything was going well. They were getting close to Baghdad, he said.
He said it was all going well, Barbara Edwards said. They just keep on going and he just keeps on smiling.
That smile is one of the things Mrs. Edwards thinks about most often. He's always smiling, she says, even when he's angry. Stephen, 38, is the youngest of her three children. Though she was reluctant to let him go when he chose the military while still a senior in high schoolÑeven though it was one of the three choices she had given him on what to do when he graduatesÑshe is proud of everything he has done.
He's proud of what he does, she said. I'm very proud of him. He doesn't let anything get him down. I never had a moment's trouble with this kid. He's a big guy with a heart of gold.
