By BRANDON LATHAM
J.P. Lucius was born in Framingham, Massachusetts, but he traveled around the world to get to Fenway Park.
The journey is more complicated than that, obviously, but for this Iraq War veteran, the Fourth of July weekend was simply about family, fun and baseball.
Lucius, who joined the National Guard in 1996 and retired officially this year on June 10, now lives in Tennessee with his wife and three children. But his family is spread around the country, including his native New England.
On the pretense of visiting his mother in Bennington for her birthday, his brothers threw him a surprise family reunion with a sister they had not seen in five years, complete with 21 tickets to the Red Sox game against the Texas Rangers on July 5.
It was his first trip to Boston’s historic ballpark.
During his time with the National Guard, Lucius was stationed in Atlanta, Georgia.
He was on active duty for four years as a patrol sergeant where he led soldiers from a scout car in Iraq.
“I had the privilege of taking care of 30 of the greatest guys I know,” he said. “I still worry about them.”
Reflecting on his military service, Lucius said, “Other people thank us for what we do, but it’s just a job. No one does it for any political reason. I wasn’t fighting for oil – I was fighting for the guy next to me.”
Because of his time in the Guard and overseas deployments, Lucius missed a lot of holidays and moments in his childrens’ lives.
“I missed my daughter’s first day of kindergarten, I came home and my 6-year old was reading books to me,” he said.
Now, he has gotten to take her to Fenway Park.
Brandon Latham can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 228 or blatham@ledgertranscript.com. He is also on Twitter @blathamMLT.