The Red Bulls

Don’t let the rank fool you for a second. Sgt. Maj. Douglas Wortham, senior enlisted leader for Special Troops Battalion, 34th Red Bull Infantry Division, looked up to his older brother, Spc. Patrick Wortham, a human resources specialist with STB, 34th ID, when they were growing up.

“We had an interesting childhood,” said Patrick, a 1986 graduate of St. Bernard’s High School in St. Paul, Minn. “Our parents divorced when I was four, so I had to take the male lead in our house at an early age. I worked at 15 and took care of my brother and sister.”

“It was a rough childhood because we didn’t have both parents there,” Douglas added.
 However, their mother, Gail, made sure the Wortham household stayed close.
“She made sure there was love in the house,” Patrick said. “We didn’t have time to fight. It got in the way of getting things done.”

Douglas, whose family lives in Elko, Minn., added that if there was a problem to be dealt with, nobody was allowed to go to bed until it was settled. He said that this has shaped the way he does things with his wife Lori, his daughter Kelly, who is 18, and son Brandon, who is 14.

Patrick, whose family lives in Atwater, Minn., agreed, saying that his mother passed on an ethic of peace and love for him to enjoy with his wife Gail, daughter Samantha, who is 17, and son Frank, who is 15.

Despite growing up together and both joining the Army out of high school, the careers of the brothers Wortham have taken different paths.

Patrick, who joined the Army Reserve in 1986, transferred to the National Guard two years later, then got out of the military in 1992. He did not return to military service until 2007. Douglas, on the other hand, joined the National Guard in 1987 and has served continuously ever since. While this is Patrick’s first overseas deployment, Douglas is also a veteran of Operation Desert Storm.

Just as Douglas looked up to his older brother when they were kids, Patrick now looks up to him.

“Sgt. Maj. Wortham brings core values into our building,” Patrick said. “He really sets the example for all of us to follow.”

Douglas looked at his brother and grinned. “He has extra (duty) coming, but he doesn’t know it yet!” he joked.
The two brothers agreed that while deployments are difficult, it is great to have family around.