BY MATTHEW LAKIN
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
Sept 21, 2004 12:13 AM EDT

CAMP SHELBY, Miss. – Not every soldier left his family behind on the way here.

First Sgt. John Cartwright brought two of his family members with him.

Cartwright’s younger son, Cpl. Chris Cartwright, 24, serves with him in Troop F, 2nd Squadron, of the 278th Regimental Combat Team. His older son, Spc. John Cartwright Jr., 28, serves in Troop E.

"I wouldn’t want all three of us in the same spot," the first sergeant said. "I’ve still got some reservations sometimes when I think about one of them getting hurt."

The only Cartwrights not at the base are the first sergeant’s wife, Melanie, and his daughter, Jessica. They stayed behind in Bristol Tennessee.

The sons said they couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. They joined Troop F as soon as they turned 17, although Army life started for them at birth.

Ask why they enlisted and they point in one direction – straight at Dad.

"I never should have rode you all in a tank when you were 3," their father said, shaking his head.

Spc. Cartwright left the troop in 2002, but returned to duty soon after his father and brother left for Camp Shelby in June. Within a month, he was on his way to join them.

"Everybody else was leaving, and I wanted to be here with them," he said. "Something like this was the reason I signed up. I didn’t sign up just to stand around for 20 years and collect a pension."

Like any family, they have their arguments. That’s when everyone else steps back.

"Everybody knows better than to come between two Cartwrights in a fight," said Cpl. Tim Parsons of Elizabethton, Tenn.

Most of the time everything works out.

To the first sergeant, every man in the troop is like a son. He looks after each soldier – sometimes gently, sometimes harshly.

"This one’s my latest project," he said, nodding toward a grinning private.

The men notice.

"All the little things you don’t have to do, he does," said Sgt. Gary Whiteside of Bluff City, Tenn. "He sweats with us, he hurts with us. When you get your leg torn up in the ditch, he’s right there beside you."

Some soldiers said they wouldn’t want to follow anyone else.

"I believe respect is earned, not bestowed," said Sgt. David Rapcan of Kingsport, Tenn. "And he’s earned every bit of it."

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