Now a son, soon a soldier

Devie Olivas was having trouble focusing on the pastor's sermon. Her thoughts kept coming back to her son Joseph M. Rankins.

"God, I have so much faith in you," she prayed silently. "Why do I feel like my son is not coming back?"

She knew that the next day her 19-year-old boy would stand next to his 40-year-old father -- her former husband -- and swear into the U.S. Army.

Devie had asked her former husband, Gary J. Rankins, to talk to their son about the Army. Gary had been in the Army before and was reenlisting now after growing frustrated with his work with a delivery company.

It was a story the news media, and the public, couldn't resist: father and son enlisting together. But behind the scenes were a mother's hopes and worries, and a newfound relationship between a father and son.

That Sunday at the International Pentecostal Church in Bellflower, Devie reached for the Bible next to her. She found the heading "God's Promises" and a verse from Genesis.

The verse told of God stopping Abraham's hand as he was about to sacrifice his son Isaac: "I swear by myself," declares the Lord, "that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you."

An ocean of relief washed over her.

"God, I know your hand is on Joseph," she prayed. "And you're going to guide him and bring him home safe."

Devie knew she had only 10 days before seeing her son off to basic training. She was going to try not to sob in Joseph's presence.

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Gary and Joseph Rankins, dressed in matching "Army Strong" T-shirts, raised their right hands in front of a U.S. flag, cardboard cutouts of soldiers and a gaggle of TV cameras.

The two smiling men were the center of attention as they swore in on July 14 at the Van Nuys recruiting station. Devie stood to the side, stepping up to the microphones only when asked to do so by a cameraman.

"What's your name, ma'am?" a cameraman shouted.

"Devie Rankins," she said. Then she laughed. "I'm sorry, Devie Olivas!"

She had been Devie Garcia when she met Gary Rankins at Huntington Park High School in 1984. They got together after Gary lent her an Army jacket he was wearing because she was cold. Using his nickname, Devie left a note in his pocket: "I love Joe Rankins."

Just before graduation, Gary decided to join the Army and left for Texas in 1986. Devie finished high school a year later and happily joined him at Fort Bliss. They married in 1987.