Face of Defense: Minnesota Brothers Reunite in Kuwait

By Army 1st Lt. Holly Elkin
34th Combat Aviation Brigade

CAMP BUERHING, Kuwait, Sept. 17, 2014 - Though one serves in the Army Reserve and the other in the Minnesota National Guard, a pair of brothers from Monticello, Minnesota, are deployed here together.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Laudert of the Minnesota National Guard's 34th Combat Aviation Brigade and his brother, Army Spc. Cameron Laudert of the Army Reserve's 452nd Combat Support Hospital, display the White Earth Nation flag while deployed to Camp Buerhing, Kuwait. U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Holly Elkin  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.

"I didn't know if our paths would cross," said Army Sgt. 1st Class Lowell Laudert as he sat with his brother, Army Spc. Cameron Laudert.

Cameron, a health care specialist, is assigned to the Army Reserve's 452nd Combat Support Hospital out of Fort Snelling, Minnesota. Lowell, an intelligence analyst, is assigned to the Minnesota Army National Guard's 34th Combat Aviation Brigade, headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota.

When Cameron deployed to Kuwait last year, he said, he never imagined he would be sharing lunches with his brother at the dining facility here.

"As soon as I got here, I tracked him down," said Lowell as the brothers reflected on their reunion. Cameron, having been deployed for several months before his brother joined him, had grown accustomed to being called by his last name. When he heard a familiar voice calling out "Cameron," he was unsure of how to react. Cameron smiled and recalled he reached out for a hug from his brother.

"When my brother joined the Army, the first time I saw him, I thought, 'Wow, I really want to do this,'" he said. And while Cameron looks up to his brother for his success and accomplishments as a noncommissioned officer, Lowell sees to it that his relationship with Cameron is more about enduring brotherhood than career mentorship.

The Laudert brothers not only have a strong family connection, which they say has helped to influence their success serving in the military, but they also speak with pride of their Native American heritage as enrolled members of the White Earth Nation.

"We're veterans of two nations," Lowell said.

Once they are both back on Minnesota soil next year, the brothers said, they have plans to strengthen their spiritual and cultural traditions together. Cameron hopes to attend medical school and aspires to become a chemical dependency counselor. Lowell will return to his full-time position with the Minnesota National Guard as the readiness noncommissioned officer for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 34th Combat Aviation Brigade readiness noncommissioned officer.