With three sons in the Marines, family buoys all troops

Dilley residents Dale and Diane Wiley are the parents of three young veterans

By Stover E. Harger Iii

The Forest Grove News-Times, Nov 13, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Chase Allgood / News-Times

Diane and Dale Wiley of Dilley have three sons serving in the Marines. They support them with care packages and much more.

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With three sons serving as U.S. Marines, every day is a mix of concern and pride for Dilley residents Dale and Diane Wiley.

While the Wiley family endures a range of emotions daily, and works diligently — putting together care packages, helping other military families and keeping in touch with their sons who are spread across the world — they say it’s really their boys, and the many others who serve the country, who are doing the hard work.

“What these young people do and go through on a daily basis is beyond the grasp and understanding of most people,” Dale said.

Sgt. Ryan Wiley, 22, and Corporal Adam Wiley, 21, are Dale’s boys, and Lance Corporal Greggory Edwards, 24, is Diane’s.

They all joined the service within a few years of each other, and Dale and Diane both said it was an easy decision to support them right off the bat. Since then, the Wileys have done their best to give their boys everything they can to help them succeed.

At times it is tough.

Not being able to get the whole family together, except for rare occasions, and not being able to communicate at times is hard, Diane said.

She said she and Dale try to talk to their boys as much as they can, either by phone or e-mail.

“You worry every day for their safety,” Diane said.

Their sons, who all graduated from Forest Grove High School, are on different military paths and have a wealth of varied experiences.

In the U.S. and beyond

Ryan is deployed outside Fallujah, Iraq, at Camp Baharia. Before that, he spent two years on the Silent Drill Platoon in Washington D.C.

Adam, an armorer, is stationed at Camp Pendleton in California. He previously was deployed in Japan, Kuwait and Dubai.

Greggory is currently stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. He is an amphibious assault vehicle operator who is scheduled for deployment to either Europe or Afghanistan next spring.