Heroic family: Naylors have 4 sons serving their country
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Such is the fate of Warren County High School teachers Ted and Sandy Naylor, who have three sons currently involved in Operation Iraqi Freedom, with a fourth possibly to see action.
“We don’t sleep well,” said Ted. “I don’t know which one of us is more distraught. This whole thing’s got us pretty apprehensive. At first we couldn’t even talk about it”
Giving the couple the most worry right now is their second eldest son, Capt. James Naylor, a West Point graduate who is currently serving as company commander of an Apache helicopter unit with the 101st Air Assault Division somewhere in Iraq. Their fears grow larger every time they hear of an Apache crash, including one such crash a week ago when the helicopter’s two pilots were taken prisoner by the Iraqis. Such fear is heightened by a lack of communication with their son.
The Naylors’ third son, Capt. Randy Naylor, a graduate of the Air Force Academy and a KC-135 refueler plane pilot, is currently deployed to Qatar in support of units in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“Randy assures us that the most danger he’s in is spilling his hot chocolate upon take-off,” said Ted.
U.S. Army First Lt. Jerry Naylor, the couple’s fourth son, is a pilot and OH-58D platoon leader. He is currently stationed with the 1st Armored Division in Germany, a unit that is being deployed to Iraq sometime in the immediate future.
The youngest of the Naylors’ sons, Spec. four Robert Naylor, is a medic with a National Guard unit in North Carolina which was recently activated. It is not yet known where the unit is headed.
Ted, himself a U.S. Army veteran who served tours in Vietnam and the first Gulf War as a helicopter pilot, said his own war experience hasn’t done much to stop him from worrying.
“It didn’t bother me when I was over there, but it’s a whole different ball game when it’s your kids over there” he said. Ted added optimistically, “But we know they’re all going to come home, that it will all be all right.”