Your Military
5 Michigan siblings to join military, including quadruplets
June 20
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In this June 6, 2018, photo, from left, Yoel, Rose, Bryce and Mason Lees pose outside their home in Ada, Mich. Yoel and his siblings, who are also quadruplets (Nevin is not pictured) are all planning on joining the military. (Neil Blake/The Grand Rapids Press via AP)
ADA, Mich. — Five Michigan siblings, including quadruplets, who just graduated high school are set to join the armed forces.
Quadruplets Nevin, Mason, Bryce and Rose Lees are joining the Marine Corps, the Air National Guard, the Navy and the Air Force, respectively. Their adopted brother, Yoel Lees, will join the Marines this fall. Two other siblings who also just graduated from Forest Hills Northern High School in Grand Rapids aren’t joining the military.
“I was kind of the last one to hop on the military bandwagon,” Mason Lees told the Grand Rapids Press. “I’m joining the Air National Guard down in Tennessee for aerospace propulsion, hopefully.”
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Yoel Lees said he became interested in the Marine Corps for the culture and brotherhood.
Their mother, Lyvonne Lees, said there hasn’t been much military influence from her or her husband’s families, aside from a son-in-law who serves as a pilot.
She encouraged others to take advantage of joining the military as a path to higher education because of its financial benefits.
Bryce Lees said he thinks there’s a misconception that it’s a scary and dangerous decision to join the armed forces.
“You meet new people, lifelong friends, you get to travel the world, you help other countries,” he said.
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Rose Lees wants to become an emergency medicine physician, with the hopes of working for Doctors Without Borders. She plans to attend Eastern Michigan University and to commute to the University of Michigan for Air Force training.
“Ever since I was little I’ve always wanted to serve,” she told WXMI-TV. “I just want to help out our world.”
