Born together, serving separately: Quadruplets each sign up for military service

Joel Shannon | USA TODAY

A group of quadruplets from Michigan will soon be serving in different branches of the military.

Bryce, Mason, Nevin, and Rose Lees are recent graduates of Forest Hills Northern High School, located northeast of Grand Rapids, Mich.

Their father, Nick Lees, told USA TODAY they each have their own plans for military service. (So does their brother Yoel, who also recently graduated from high school).

Bryce is joining the Navy.

Mason will serve in the Air National Guard.

Nevin graduated high school early and is already a Marine. He plans to attend college to become an officer.

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Rose enlisted in the Air Force and plans to attend Eastern Michigan University for emergency medicine through a Reserve Officer Training Corps program.

Yoel plans to join Nevin in the Marines.

Their reasons for joining vary as much as the branches they picked, according to Rose.

Some siblings were interested in an alternative to college. Others wanted to use military service to advance career paths that include college.

The latter was the case for Rose. She hopes to practice emergency medicine with Doctors Without Borders.

She said growing up with numerous adopted siblings helped expand her view of the world. In total, there are 12 children in the Lees family, several of whom were originally born in Ethiopia.

Rose was heartbroken by what her adopted siblings went through in their home country.

In 2015, human rights groups criticized Ethiopia's government, alleging it used a war to clamp down on opposition groups and violated basic freedoms, such as speech and assembly.

Now, she doesn't take living in America for granted, she said.

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She told the Today Show that separating from her siblings was bittersweet. "I'm personally a little sad. I don't know about them," she said with a smile.

Bryce told USA TODAY that his grandfather and brother-in-law's service helped inspire him to enlist.

He plans to ship out for boot camp on June 28. And he's very excited ... for boot camp to be over.

Tonny Onyulo contributed to this report