Paul Imhoff photo Sgt. Paul Imhoff (a corporal here) with his brother Jay during a celebration following the Marine Ball in Jacksonville last November.

Military Branch: Marine Corps Reserve

Assignment: Iraq

Mother: Sue Wilson of Ponce Inlet

Q. Paul Imhoff -- one of your twin sons -- is a Marine reservist serving his second tour of duty in Iraq. What is his job? In 2003, he was part of Iraqi Freedom. He was in the amphibious assault with a group that went up the right side. He saw continuous active fire. He was there for six months. He came back and his reserve status continued. In November, he was reactivated to North Carolina and began training for a new skill. Now he's a boat captain.

Q. What does he do over there? There are lakes, rivers and dams being patrolled. He is not able to talk about anything. Everything they do is confidential. He called one morning from a phone bank and only had a few minutes. He said he was going on a two- or three-day mission, which is a little nervy for him, so he wanted to call mom.

Q. How do you deal with all this? I get afraid for him, of course. I call all my friends and say let's keep our focus on keeping a "thing" out there to keep him safe -- our prayers go out. If I sit and dwell on it, I would get sick. This time is different than last time. Then it was on the news and I was living every minute of it. It's not easy when you have your first-born out there and he can't really tell you anything.

Q. How often can you communicate with him? He's not always near a phone center, and letters are slow, and some things haven't even gotten there. But now there's MotoMail. He says everybody looks forward to that. It's so new and has become such a contact for him to get news.

Q. What's MotoMail? It's on the Web: www.motomail.us. You register and e-mail a letter (to his FPO address). This goes to a center where it's printed and tracked and sent out. They guarantee it gets there in 24 hours. The MotoMail goes right to wherever they are. You have to promise that you can't talk about certain stuff or send any pictures. My son said he has been getting them in six to 10 hours.

Your twin sons grew up locally, were weightlifters at Spruce Creek High School together and had a small business together, which they have now sold. Is your other son in the military service? No, Jay is in Jacksonville. He works through a college instructing and recertifying Navy personnel for combat training, shooting and chemical spray. He doesn't work for the military but for the college.

audrey.parente@news-jrnl.com