Posted on 10/12/2004 9:14:06 AM PDT by TexKat
NAPERVILLE, Ill. - A Marine who is in a hospital bed recovering from wounds he suffered in Iraq is now a father five times over.
While Sgt. Joshua Horton, 28, recuperated at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, his wife, Taunacy, delivered quintuplets Monday in Naperville.
Neither the hospital nor military officials knew whether Horton was aware his babies had been born. He was heavily sedated and had not been able to speak to his wife, officials said.
Horton knew Taunacy was expecting quints when he was deployed to Iraq, but felt duty-bound to honor his commitment.
"He wanted to give some of the other fathers a chance to come home and serve their families," said Liz Robinson, his partner on the police force in nearby Aurora.
His three girls and two boys weigh between 1 pound, 9 ounces and 1 pound, 15 ounces, and were in critical but stable condition Monday evening in a neonatal intensive care unit. An Edward Hospital spokesman could not immediately provide an update on their conditions Tuesday.
Horton could have stayed home to take care of his pregnant wife and two older children, said Marine Maj. Rick Coates, the information officer for the 2nd Battalion 24th Marine Regiment.
But that wasn't in his nature. "He's just the type of guy who doesn't say no," Robinson said.
Horton arrived in Iraq a month ago and was wounded Thursday during intense fighting south of Baghdad.
The Hortons met while he was in the Marine Corps and she was in the Navy. Both completed their service and moved to Oswego, but decided after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that one of them should re-enlist. Horton enlisted in the Marine Reserves.
"They felt patriotic enough that they needed to do it, and they decided it should be him," said Anne Watts of Blackfoot, Idaho, Taunacy's stepmother.
The couple had tried for years to conceive a third child and succeeded after Taunacy started fertility drugs.
Horton is to be flown to the Bethesda Medical Center in Maryland soon, Coates said.
-- Baby girl, 1 lb 9.5 oz, 13 inches, critical but stable condition -- Baby boy, 1 lb 9 oz, 12-1/4 inches, critical but stable condition -- Baby boy, 1 lb 12 oz, 13 inches, critical but stable condition -- Baby girl, 1 lb 15 oz, 13-1/2 inches, critical but stable condition -- Baby girl, 1 lb 11 oz, 13-1/2 inches, critical but stable condition
Military Quintuplets Ping
God Bless all of them!
Wow! Best wishes for the new mom, dad, and the kids!
May they be blessed.
A fire team plus one. Semper Fi!
All I can say is good luck. I have 2 year old twins and they
are a handful!!!
What a story!
Prayers for the dad's recovery.
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent ‘miscellaneous’ ping list.
My identical twin sons are now almost 22 and they were very more than ahandful when they were babies. These folks are gonna be busy!
God bless them all! LOL
Wonderful news... praying that the babies' grow healthier and stronger every day and that their dad does as well. Congratulations to their mom!
That's gonna take an extended family just to change diapers on a regular basis....
Prayers for the Mother, she has all those babies and a severely injured husband coming home, God be with her.
Good for them - hope it all goes well.
May God look out for this patriotic and greatly expanded family!
Heh heh! This guy just took on the toughest assignment of his life! I wish them well. I hope they have lots of help. He'll need to build a second house so he can get a little rest from
time to time. I'm 51 and my twins are 2 1/2. I'm just praying for the day that they are potty trained. Diapers alone cost 120.00 a month! Good luck soldier!!
i can't begin to describe my gratitude to this family. Perhaps there will be a fund established to help them...
This, my friends, is courage - to fight under fire, then live bravely with the consequences of your choices. I want htem to know I cannot ever thank them enougth for what they did for me -and everyone else in America.
Help the Horton 5
Donations can be made to help the family of Sgt. Josh Horton. He's fighting in Iraq and his wife is expecting FIVE babies! Send donations to: Horton 5 Fund, c/o Harris Bank, P.O. Box 6201, Carol Stream, IL 60197-6207
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.