LAKE COUNTY ? Lakeport resident Tom Dingwall Jr. saw his son off last week for his third deployment overseas to the front lines of the Iraq war.
Dingwall said his only child, C. T. Dingwall III, is a sergeant in the United States Marine Corps at the age of 27, and squad leader for the 3rd Marine Infantry, 2nd Battalion. His most recent deployment takes him to Afghanistan. He flew out April 27 from 29 Palms and is expected to return home in late December or early January 2010.
“They”re going after the al-Qaida at the Pakistani border,” the elder Dingwall said Wednesday.
The elder Dingwall is a regular attendee at St. Mary Immaculate, and said his prayer life has gotten a lot stronger since his son was first deployed in March 2003, six months after signing up with a USMC recruiter in Ukiah.
“This reminds me of his first deployment. It”s heavy in my heart and I pray heavily for him and all the troops,” the elder Dingwall said.
He said his son is stationed in Oahu, Hawaii, with his wife, Brenda Patton-Dingwall, and has the full support of his family and high school friends. The younger Dingwall played baseball and soccer at Clear Lake High School, graduating in 2002. He joined the Marine Corps the same year.
The elder Dingwall said he feels blessed, because he got a call from his son during a refueling stopover in Germany last week, on his way out.
“I drive a truck, and I normally don”t hear my phone. I was at a stop and I heard it ring, so I stopped everything I was doing and grabbed the phone. It was a blessing to talk to him before he left,” the elder Dingwall said.
The younger Dingwall was assigned to the infantry on the front lines during his first seven-month deployment before returning home, according to his father. The second deployment, also to Iraq, was in September 2005, for another seven months.
“I”m very proud of him,” the elder Dingwall said, adding that his son is the first in the family to join the military. “After the 9-11 attacks, he felt the call of duty to protect our country.”
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com, or call her directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
