When Downers Grove resident Mark Luneburg joined the U.S. Army in 2006, no one who knew his family was surprised.

By enlisting, Luneburg was following a long family tradition.

Luneburg’s father, Ralph, logged a 13-month tour with the U.S. Marines during the Vietnam War. Luneburg also boasts two great uncles who fought in World War II, and a second cousin who, as a Navy pilot, was shot down in 1967 during the Vietnam War. That cousin was buried at sea.

In fact, the Luneburg family’s military experience goes back even further in history: Luneburg’s grandfather’s older brother served in World War I.

So Luneburg, a 1st Lieutenant who has been in active duty in the Army for the last three years, was well versed in both the risks and rewards of military service before he signed up three years ago. That does not mean, though, that Luneburg’s mother and father, Ralph and Arlene, are not worried about the safety of their son after he was deployed to Afghanistan’s Kandahar province on a security mission late this month.

“I’m very proud of Mark, but I’m also very scared,” said Luneburg’s father, Ralph. “That’s it. I’m proud that he has decided to serve his country, but, like any father, I want him to be safe.”

Before leaving for Afghanistan from the Fort Lewis Army post in Washington state, Mark Luneburg said during a phone interview that he did not join the Army to honor his family’s legacy. He joined for a simpler reason:

“I wanted to do my part to protect the freedoms I enjoy every day,” he said.

Mark Luneburg signed up for the military shortly after he graduated from Illinois State University in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in finance. The move was not a surprise — Mark Luneburg said  he had long thought about military service even while taking his business classes. He wanted to make a difference, he said, and thought military service was the best way for him to do that.

Mark Luneburg never made his desire to join the military a secret from the rest of his family.

“I remember after he graduated from college, he told me, ‘Dad, I can’t get on the train and go downtown in a three-piece Brooks Brothers suit every day. I haven’t done anything yet,’” Ralph Luneburg said.

Now Mark Luneburg will have his chance to make a difference, and to take an active role in providing security to a still tumultuous Afghanistan. But even before this deployment, Mark Luneburg’s first, he had already considered his military service to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

“I’ve worked with a lot of incredible soldiers in the time I’ve been in the Army,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of America that I might not have seen. I’ve been through Georgia, Oklahoma and New Mexico — places I hadn’t seen before. I’ve gotten to travel all over the country, and that’s been a good experience.”

Mark Luneburg attended Indian Trail Elementary School in Downers Grove before graduating from Downers Grove South High School in 2002.

His parents, while proud of their son, admit to having mixed feelings about their son’s tour in Afghanistan.

“We are proud of him. But like all parents would be, we’re frightened, too,” Ralph Luneburg said. “I’d like to fast forward to the day when he comes back.”