Ten Years Since 9/11: Urbandale Parents And Sons Spend The Decade Serving

On Sept. 10, 2001, Tracy and Robin Page's lives were ordinary.

She was a bookkeeper for the city of Centerville; he worked in the Chariton Hy-Vee’s meat department. The two had met in the Iowa National Guard. The couple, who now live in Urbandale where Tracy works for Target, had created a blended family of four sons.

On Sept. 11, the trajectory of their lives changed. Robin, was deployed first, to Kuwait. Tracy went later, to Iraq. As members of the Army National Guard, such deployments became common, parents or no parents.

This family, though, did the uncommon: They went to war together.

The two oldest sons, Nathan Page, 28, and Jason Benell, 26, joined the National Guard within months of 9/11. They spent 2004 in Iraq escorting supply convoys and disposing of hidden bombs.

"It was the worst year of my life, when both of my sons were in such danger," said Robin, who now works full-time at Camp Dodge in Johnston. Combined, the family has been deployed six times in the past decade.

After tours on the bomb squad, Nathan graduated with a degree in structural engineering. He has hearing and short-term memory loss. Jason, a financial advisor, suffers post-traumatic stress symptoms. Robin Page tells you nobody in this family is a hero. Plenty of military families have made similar or greater sacrifices.

They simply did what they were asked to do.

They don’t make a big deal about it.

__

As we approach 10th anniversary of the attacks on the United States, check back with Patch to see how the events changed the lives of Iowans -- and the country -- forever.

Patch, through its parent company, AOL, is involved in a project called ActionAmerica. The project is a collaboration of several corporations, individuals and non-profits organizations designed to honor those affected by the events of 9/11 and unify the country through postive action.