KAHUKU — A mixture of pride and apprehension surfaces when the parents of recent Kahuku High School graduates talk about their sons' and daughters' current deployment to Iraq as members of the Hawai'i Army National Guard.

"She makes me pretty proud because she actually believes in what she's doing," said Joseph Golonka, father of Pvt. Lacey Golonka, 19. "She doesn't think somebody can come over and blow up our country and that's OK."

Lacey Golonka is one of four 2004 graduates of Kahuku serving together with the National Guard at LSA Anaconda.

The relatively small school in Windward O'ahu has 15 graduates from 2000 through 2004 serving in the Middle East, principal Lisa DeLong said.

Golonka carried a 3.75 grade-point average at Kahuku and had hoped to either become a lawyer or work for the FBI or CIA. She was captain of the cheerleading team and excelled in debate, swimming and ROTC, her father said.

Trained in intelligence, Lacey isn't able to tell her parents what she is doing.

"We're so proud of her and the rest of the troops," said her mother, Lynn Golonka. "I miss her terribly. For me it's really hard because she's my baby — actually she's more like my best friend."

Noe Holokahi, of Wai'anae, said her daughter's age and inexperience makes her worry.

The oldest of five children, Pfc. Francinette Holokahi, 18, aims to be the first in her family to go to college, her mother said. The Holokahis encouraged their daughter to join the National Guard as a way of paying for college, said Francis Holokahi, Francinette's father.

Noe Holokahi, teared up when talking about her daughter's deployment. She said she fears the worst and hopes for the best. A recent call from her daughter, who was upbeat and excited about her new assignment, did a lot to quell some of her parents' fears.

"We're all proud of her," Noe Holokahi said. "It's just that they're so young."

Patricia Geddis, mother of Spc. Nicole (Segundo) Harrison, 19 of Wai'anae, said she is amazed at the change in her daughter. Geddis said her daughter is "finding herself." They communicate by e-mail.

"She just seems to mature so fast," she said. "When I talk to her on the phone she just seems to be getting more and more mature."

Geddis said her daughter wanted to join the Army, but they considered the Guard a safer choice and a way to get money for college.

"I really wish she would have stayed and went to school," Geddis said. "I don't like the idea that the reserves had to go."

The fourth Kahuku grad with the Guard at LSA Anaconda is Pfc. Dallin Auna of Hau'ula.

"They carry the weight of our nation on their shoulders," Kahuku principal DeLong said. "We're proud of them for taking on that responsibility. That's the one side. The other side is we know that their efforts are helping us live in a free society but it's a really great sacrifice they're making for us and we're very grateful."