Local Soldier Featured as Part of TIME`s Person of the Year

It`s been an unbelievable day for a Pine Bluff family: their soldier is on the cover of TIME magazine. The publicationnamed the American soldier 2003`s Person of the Year. That Pine Bluff soldier is among the three chosen to represent them on the cover of the magazine. 24-year old Sergeant Marquette Whiteside is with a platoon in the Army`s 1st Armored Division. They`ve been nicknamed "Tomb Raiders," because one of their assignments in Iraq was to look for weapons in a cemetary. Whiteside`s mother, Catherine Whiteside, says she can`t believe all of this is happening. "I`m so proud of him. Makes me wanna cry when I see him," Whiteside says. She`s all smiles this Sunday, but somedays there are more tears, when she thinks of the constant danger surrounding her son. "The only thing he really told me was when his hummer got blown up a couple of weeks ago/He told me he was knocked out for a while and he saved his lieutenant`s life," she said. A similar incident happened just hours after a TIME magazine photographer snapped the cover shot. It blew off another staff member`s hand. Such danger makes Whiteside only more nervous to think of her other son. Eighteen-year old Shemario Johnson is heading into the danger zone as well. "He told me to be careful, keep your head up, make sure you keep faith in God. You never know when you`re gonna wake up, when you`re gonna die. Tomorrow, tonight, whenever. Keep your head up and be on your job," Johnson says his brother told him. So Private Johnson takes his big brother`s advice in hopes that being a good soldier runs in the family. With prayers from a church full of family and friends, and thoughts of his own 6-year old daughter, Sergeant Marquette Whiteside has plenty to come home to. His mother expects him back in February, just as his brother, Shemario, leaves for Iraq with the 39th Infantry Brigade.