TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. -- Gunnery Sgt. Rodger Hoke has a deep understanding of the word “brotherhood.”
As a 20-year veteran Reserve Marine with 2nd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, Hoke has served in Cuba and twice in Iraq. His most harrowing experience, however, was a recent life-changing sacrafice at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
Hoke, a native of Mechanicsburg, Pa., received a call from his younger brother, Bradley Hoke, in mid-March with an unusual request. Bradley needed Rodger’s bone marrow.
Bradley, who has fought Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma for the past nine years, was in bad shape. The doctors told him he had between one and two years to live, and the only thing that could save his life was a risky bone marrow transplant surgery. Unfortunately, finding a donor with matching marrow is no easy task.
“It is exceedingly unlikely that you would find anyone outside your immediate family who is a match,” said Cmdr. Robert Gherman, the 2/25 assistant battalion surgeon. “All the stars have to line up appropriately, so to speak.”
Although his bone marrow was a suitable match, Rodger faced a dilemma. His battalion was mobilizing in May, and a dangerous surgery such as bone marrow removal could not only disqualify him for combat duty with an infantry battalion, it could also leave him permanently disabled or end his life if complications arose in the surgery.
“The procedure is extremely painful,” asserted Gherman. “They can’t numb the bone. They basically drive a spike into the pelvis, as that’s the only way to get to it [the bone marrow].”
He explained that some of the most common risks include infection and internal hemorrhage.
“I was scared and nervous,” said the Rodger, who admitted that he hates needles. “But any side effects I’d suffer would be greatly outweighed by his ability to live a more healthy life.”
The 47-year-old construction mason and part-time farmer with a snow-removal side business realized he had to get into peak physical condition if he wanted to donate his marrow, recover quickly and then depart for California to train with his fellow Marines.
After mobilizing for active duty with the battalion in May, he began running nearly every day, averaging up to eight miles. He stuck to a high-protein diet and took multi-vitamins.
“I wanted to give him the best possible quality bone marrow I could,” said Rodger, who is 10 years older than Bradley. “I’ve lived a good life in every way. I wanted him to have the same opportunity.”
In spite of his loathing of needles, Rodger watched as doctors at Johns Hopkins Medical Center took 22 vials of his blood several weeks before the surgery to confirm that he was physically prepared to endure the procedure.
On June 20, the day before he turned 48 years old, Rodgers returned to Hopkins for the surgery. Doctors drilled six holes into his pelvis, removing 1.7 liters of fluid containing the precious marrow.
“It was my birthday gift to my brother,” laughed Hoke. “I told him, ‘You better tighten down your boot strings, because you’re gonna be full of my energy. It’s going to be like a battery jolt to your system!”
Nine hours after surgery, Rodgers’ wife guided him out of the hospital in a wheelchair. Within two weeks, he was able to walk a mile. By the middle of July, less than 30 days after the surgery, he was running up to four miles a day. On July 25, just five weeks after the operation, he arrived at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center to begin training for deployment.
“Rodger was the smart one in school,” said Bradley, the youngest of three brothers. “He always got the good grades. We worked on the farm together. He was very athletic. He was the skinny and muscular kid, and I was the short and fat one,” joked Bradley, who explained that his big brother always looked out for him.
Rodger carried this sense of brotherhood with him into the Corps when he enlisted in 1988.
“He is the definition of heart,” said Gunnery Sgt. Robert Cirino, a Company E platoon commander who served with Rodger for a year before Rodger moved to Headquarters and Service Company in May.
“After all he has gone through with the surgery, he still wants to be out here with his Marines,” said Cirino. “It sets the example for the younger guys in the battalion.”
Cirino explained that what he admires most about Hoke’s sacrifice is that he had months to contemplate the surgery and all of the possible ramifications.
“It’s not like a guy who rushes into a burning building to save someone,” insisted Cirino. “He had time to think about it, that he may not survive, his brother might not survive. But he had the courage to stick with his decision.”
In spite of all the risks and worry, the surgery was a complete success.
“We’re all very proud of him,” said Bradley, who is now recovering and expects to return to work in about two months. “When you have family like him, you know, we’re all very close. What he did … he’s just awesome. If one member of our family has a problem, another just helps out.”
Rodger is currently working as a range chief to facilitate the battalion’s training during Mojave Viper, the unit’s final test of combat readiness before they deploy.
Defying the long hours in the sun and daily temperatures reaching 115 degrees, he is faithfully carrying out the mission of preparing the battalion’s Marines for success.
“Back in May, I told the battalion commander I’d be here,” he said. “And I’m a man of my word.”