who is your hometown hero?
Who is your hero? I met mine in May of 1998. He was fresh from Basic Training and I was coming out of my freshman year at LSU. A series of odd events brought him to my dorm room on the very day I was packing up for the summer. It took one afternoon to convince me that I'd found "the one". I have really great instincts. We were married in September of 2003, had our first baby in September of 2004 during flight school in Fort Rucker, AL. In 2008, he was deployed to Iraq, where he remained for a year (missing the delivery of our third baby and his first 6 months of life-- read more on that here). We recently celebrated the birth of our fifth child- and while he is no longer in the army, he'll always be my hero. 
Even being a former military wife, I'll never fully understand what our hardworking soldiers go through in times of war or separation- or that well of strength deep inside that draws them to military service in the first place. I do, however, understand the network of heroes who are left behind: the husbands and wives and children of those servicemen and women... the ones who didn't necessarily choose a military life- but proudly, humbly, bravely follow their soldiers to lands unknown. So in addition to the amazing men and women who are willing to fight and die for this country, we applaud the lesser-known heroes in trenches of their own: the tired mom who fixes toilets, mows the lawn and remembers to take out the trash... the anxious dad who drives carpool, braids hair and bakes cupcakes for class, the child who puts one foot in front of the other every day- a weary smile on his face. Our military families are the backbone of this country- and we all owe them a tremendous debt of gratitude. Having said that, W.D. Wolf wants to honor a hometown hero with "Hometown Firecracker" outfits for his or her family. So, who is your hero? Leave your nominations here. Please tell us a little bit about your favorite soldier, military spouse or family- and what makes them so very special. We will select and announce the winner this week. Love, Sarah & Shannon
My husband, William J Lau Jr, is Active duty Air Force. He has sacrificed so much, including missing the birth of our DD. We were stationed in Germany for 3 years and he was called on many missions and worked 12 hour days, 6 days a week. So thankful for his sacrifices, and all military members, so that my children and the rest of us can live in a free world! Thank you so much WDW for doing this!!!
I met my “Hometown Hero” in 2002. He was stationed at Camp Pendleton, CA and I was in my sophomore year in college in San Diego. In 2003 and 2004 he was deployed to Iraq. When I talk about his deployments, I am reminded of what a hard time this was, and the constant worry I had. I’m also reminded of so many life lessons his deployment taught myself. His dedication and strength inspired me, and continue to inspire me. At that time, we did not have the options to skype or email, and the telephone calls were rare. The one thing I held on to was writing him a letter each day he was gone. For the first year, we wrote back and forth…I was writing much more than him, but I looked forward to checking my mailbox each day in hopes there would be a letter from him!
He is the hardest working person I know, and has always been dedicated to anything he does. From the day I met him in 2002, he made me feel like I was the only woman in the world, and as of February 2012, he has two leading ladies in his life, myself and our beautiful daughter. He always makes me want to be a better wife, mother, friend, co-worker, employee, etc., and has taught me to be appreciative for all the blessings in our lives.
I will never fully grasp what it took for him to become a Marine, or what he went through during those two tours to Iraq, but I do know that he truly is kind; honest; an amazing father, husband and uncle; he is loyal; a family guy; passionate; loving; funny; and my list could continue.
For the past 12 years I have had my own “Hometown Hero” and he is my husband.
My fantastic husband, Travis, would have to be without a doubt my hometown hero! He works so tirelessly to meet the expectations that are set before him by the navy AND be the most amazing and dedicated father and husband! In the last 4 years, he has been deployed three different times. He has had to miss so many important events over the years…dance recitals, holidays, birthdays, vacations, and even the birth of our second child, Wyatt! And it is no small thing to miss the day to day mundane as well! Just being able to be at home for dinner is such a treat for him :) He dedicates himself so fully to whatever is in front of him and somehow manages to balance it all in spite of being gone at least 60% of the time! He records books of himself reading to the kids so that when he is gone they can still ‘see’ daddy! We are always on his mind and feel so loved and cared for even when he is on the other side of the world. It is no easy thing being the family that is left at home when a family member deploys, but I don’t even think I can even fully grasp how hard it is on my dear husband! He makes so many sacrifices serving our country and serving our family! I have learned soooo much watching my husband—he has truly taught me how valuable every moment is with my kiddos! He doesn’t take anything for granted, and I am so thankful that God chose him for me and that this is our story, even though it is hard at times! I know that every single one of these nominees is soooooo deserving! Tears are flowing as I read all the stories and I remember soooo vividly just how the deployments, homecomings, and everything in between feel like ;)
Our hometown heroes are a wife and husband who have been great friends to us even though we moved out of state and away from them. Travis Curtman recently joined the national guard and currently is in Afghanistan. They have three beautiful girls that they are wonderful parents to. What’s even more amazing is that before he left they began working in the church (with no pay) as youth leaders. They have done a great job and the group has grown since they have been actively working and teaching these kids. Since Travis has been gone his wife, Savannah has still been actively involved with these kids as well as taking care of her three children on her own. They never complain and keep on making a difference in the lives of many. I hope you consider this very deserving family!
My husband is my true hometown hero. I met him when we were sixteen when we worked together at the coolest restaurant on the beach. We didn’t officially start dating until after he graduated boot camp. We dated 3 weeks and then were engaged and 5 mths later we were married. He is in the US Coastguard. Last week we celebrated our 15 year anniversary. Let me tell you it was the worst anniversary EVER!. We have 7 children (yes, they are all ours), ranging from 13-11mths. As you can imagine we don’t’ have many volunteers to keep or babysit 7 children at once, therefore going on dates is a very rare occurrence. We planned a night away (our original plans years ago, was to go to Italy for our 15 yr anniversary, haha, didn’t happen). Anyway, we were lucky enough to get my mother in law to keep the kids for the night. Well, long story short, kids got sick, my husband got sick and was in bed a large portion of the night, a pipe burst (again, for the second time in 13 days). When we said our vows, it was for better or worse, in sickness and in health. Now I can say that on our anniversary, all of those things were tested. The last few years have been horrible. He works hard to enable me to stay home with my children and homeschool them. In all of the trials that God put in front of us, my husband proved himself to be the head of our household, my TRUE best friend, the love of my life and a wonderful God fearing father, and my hero. Sorry this is so long, I never get to tell him, how much he truly means to me. Thank you WDW for the sharing opportunity.