Citizen staff/Amanda Lutey
Patty Rataczak poses in front of a blue star service flag and photos of her four children.
NOTE: Today is Armed Forces Day. The day was established in 1949 and is observed on the third Saturday in May to honor Americans serving in the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard.
CAMBRIA — A flag with four blue stars hangs on a wall in the home of Scott and Patty Rataczak.
Blue star service flags are an American tradition dating back to 1917. Each star represents someone serving in the U.S. Armed Forces
The flag is surrounded by photos of the Rataczak's four children - Melissa, Michael, Mitchell and Marshall, who all serve in the Army or National Guard and have enlisted in the last two years.
"It's a different kind of life for all of us," Patty Rataczak said. "But they have it harder."
If a service member is killed, their blue star is replaced with a gold star.
"We don't want one of those gold stars," Rataczak said.
Patty, originally from Randolph, and Scott, a Cambria native, married in 1985. Scott works as a truck driver, and Patty was recently laid off from her job in Beaver Dam.
Michael, their oldest son, was the first to enlist, and went through basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia.
"He just got this inkling he wanted to join," said Rataczak.
A 2005 Cambria-Friesland High School graduate, Michael enlisted in early 2007 and is now a specialist in the National Guard. He was recently deployed to Iraq.
Rataczak said she had a recruiter sitting in her living room talking to Mitchell when Marshall expressed his interest as well. She said she tried to talk them out of it.
"Then Melissa came in and said, 'Oh no, I'm not having all my brothers in the service,'" Rataczak said. "Now she's in it, too."
Melissa, the Rataczak's oldest child, is a 2004 CFHS graduate. She serves as a private first class in the National Guard, and is currently attending school at UW-Whitewater.
Mitchell, a 2007 CFHS alumnus, is a private first class in the Army, serving as a helicopter mechanic and crew chief. Mitchell is currently serving in Korea.
Marshall, known to family and friends as Shaun, is also in the Army, where he holds the rank of PV2 and has completed airborne training. Shaun, a 2008 CFHS graduate, is currently serving in Louisiana at Fort Polk.
All three went through basic training last year.
"We did a lot of traveling in the last year," Rataczak said.
Rataczak said that Melissa trained in South Carolina and Virginia, Michael in Georgia, Mitchell in Missouri and Virginia, and Shaun in Oklahoma, Missouri and Georgia. She said that when she was working, her supervisor worked hard to make sure she could take the time off to go to her children's graduation ceremonies from training, because his family did not attend his.
"We've made it to at least one of everybody's," Patty said.
The Rataczak family has grown in the last year.
Michael and his fiancee, Mary Ramsey, have a nine-month-old daughter, Mia Scot. Mary also serves in the National Guard, and has also been deployed to Iraq. Rataczak said Michael and Mary will be deployed for one year.
"She's going to be so drastically changed when they come back," Rataczak said of her granddaughter.
Rataczak said that they last saw Michael on Feb. 19, and did not get to see him before he deployed.
"He had a four-day pass, but Michael had just had a smallpox vaccine and was still contagious," Rataczak said. "Every now and then I get e-mails from Michael's captain. Michael and another guy have the best cameras, so they are taking pictures."
Rataczak talked about keeping in touch with her children. She said they talk to the kids over the Internet and have a webcam. She said she recently sent Shaun a letter, but three weeks later he still hadn't received it. She won't be able to send packages to Michael until he arrives in Iraq.
Rataczak said she is proud of her children, and has an "Army Mom" magnet on her vehicle.
"I told the kids that I want a coffee mug from every base they've served at," Rataczak said. "I have all but one."
She said that Michael works as a prison guard, Melissa is studying to be an art teacher, Mitchell wants to go to school and Shaun is considering a career in the military. She said she saw an advertisement not long ago, asking people to write an essay if they know of any heroes.
"I couldn't even write anything, because I started to bawl," Rataczak said.
Patty said that she doesn't know of anyone in her family who served in the military until her children enlisted. She said Scott's father served during World War II, and two of his brothers were in the service.
"If Scott's dad was alive, he'd be in awe, I think," Patty said.