Missouri National Guard Soldier honors father with enlistment

Maj. Brad Leonard swears Sgt. Benjamin Pharris into the Missouri National Guard at the Guard armory in Springfield, Mo., October 26, 2011. Pharris joins the Missouri National Guard nine months following the death of his father, Sgt. 1st Class Robert Pharris, who was killed in action in Afghanistan while serving in the Missouri Guard. (Ann Keyes/Missouri National Guard)

By Ann Keyes
ngmo.pao@us.army.mil

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Sgt. Benjamin Pharris stood in the foyer of the Missouri National Guard armory in Springfield and was sworn in by Maj. Brad Leonard as the new enlistee's mother looked on, following in the footsteps of his father, Sgt. 1st Class Robert Pharris, who was killed in action in Afghanistan January 5 of this year.

"I wanted to be closer to home, to family, and I wanted to carry on a family legacy," said Pharris of his reason for joining the Missouri Guard.

Pharris, just days separated from the Marine Corps, will also work on his family's cattle, goat and sheep farm in Seymour, just as his dad did before deploying with the Missouri National Guard's Agribusiness Development Team in June 2010.

At the time of the elder Pharris' death, the result of an insurgent attack using an improvised explosive device, he was working as a liaison officer to 1st Squadron, 61st Cavalry. He deployed as a small ruminants (sheep and goat) expert with the Missouri Guard's ADT IV, the group's mission to train and empower local agriculture production in rural Afghanistan.

"Sgt. 1st Class Pharris was the most energetic and enthusiastic Soldier I have ever met, and in many ways, was the perfect Soldier," said ADT IV commander Col. Michael D. Fortune at Pharris' passing. "Among his many great qualities, he was passionate about his work, tenacious and always ready to take on a new challenge."

Sgt. Benjamin Pharris, who will serve the Missouri Guard as a member of the 1138th Military Police Company, headquartered in West Plains with a detachment in Springfield, will also take on new challenges as he trains as part of a military police unit.

"I've always wanted to be in law enforcement, since I was young," said 23-year-old Pharris, who worked in supply and administration as a member of the Marine Corps. Pharris will attend college and study criminal justice and business, he said.

For Pamela Pharris, who also served in the Missouri Guard, her son's enlistment was bittersweet, she said, as she watched her husband enlist three years before.

"I'm very proud of my son. I'm tickled he joined the Guard," said Pamela, joyful yet misty-eyed. "But I stood here with his Dad, with the same recruiter."

"Ben Pharris has shown what the meaning of honor is by enlisting in the Missouri National Guard, in the footsteps of his late father, said the Missouri Guard's Jeffory Owens, of Marshfield. "Ben reminds me a lot of his father in the way he acts, talks and dedicates himself in service to this great country. It is truly an honor and privilege to be the recruiter for both of them."

Robert Pharris first enlisted in the Army in 1981, and later in the Army National Guard. Primarily serving as an infantryman, he also served as a drill sergeant and recruiter. After leaving military service in 1997 and experiencing an 11-year break, he re-joined the Missouri Army National Guard in 2008 after learning an infantry unit was being formed. Deploying with the agriculture team put both his civilian and military experience together, a Guard hallmark Robert Pharris' son will now exemplify.

"Ben's goal is to go to Afghanistan and finish his Dad's mission," said Pamela, clearly embracing her son's decision to join the Guard, just as she and her husband had previously.

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