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 hometown hero is my Papa. This Feb 17 will be my first full year without him. He was the most caring loving grandfather I know. He took up so much time with all of his grandchildren. Took us hunting, fishing, swiming, to get ice cream, came to every ball game, he keep every newspaper article with our names on. He served his country in WWII in the navy and told us thosands of stories about way back when. He taught us uncondtional love. He is truly my hero. Two of my cousins now are in the marines. One in Afghanistan and the other in Japan.
My husband, Bryan, is my hometown hero. He was in the Marines and has now been honorably discharged. I was a single mother to my baby girl when we met and he took her fell in love with her as he would his own child. He has treated her like a princess from day one. We got married after he came home from his second deployment to Afghanistan and have since had two more children and you would never know our oldest isn’t his biologically. She is his princess. He is my hero, not only because he fought for our country, but because without him my sweet (now 10-year-old) girl wouldn’t know a Daddy’s love.
Matt Cole! A marine, he served 2 tours in Iraq and on his 2nd tour (May 17,2005) was hit by a mortar round resulting in a spinal cord injury and paralizing him from the waist down. Matt is such an inspiration to me and our community. He says he would do it all over again even knowing the end result :) He now runs our local state VA office in Covington, LA, helping other veterans & family members seek services and benefits. I’m just the lucky gal that gets to call him my hubby! We were married in 2006 and have 3 precious lil munchkins!
Thanks for doing this – brings a tear and a smile to my face!!!!
PS – Your Daddy was mayor at the time Matt returned home and declared Oct.28th “Matt Cole Day” – we celebrate it every year ;)
I would like to nominate wren and Jeffrey brown family for my hometown hero
He has served in afganastan while she waited for
Him to return to be married. Now as a family
Stationed thousands of miles away from family with their new baby girl
We are so proud of their service for our freedom .
I know it would mean a lot to win the firecracker outfit for her first four of July
My “hometown hero” is my amazing husband, Daniel. I met Daniel in college and started dating him the day after he signed up for Army ROTC. We have been together for almost 10 years (March 16 – yes, I still know our “dating” anniversary!) We have been married for 6 years and have 3 beautiful children: Evelyn – 4, Harrison – 2 and Henrietta 1. Daniel is currently serving our country in Afghanistan. He left a few months before our youngest daughters first birthday. He absolutely loves serving and really knows what it takes to be a great military husband. The distance is hard but he never fails to do cute things such as send flowers, write notes, or leave messages. The last time he held our children was over 180 days ago. I can’t imagine what he is going though without holding them. He stays strong which allows me to stay strong at home. I’m looking forward to having my best friend home in about 6months. Thank you to all the other service members and “hometown heros”. They are the reason the United States stands today! But also remember you too are “hometown heros.” Behind every Soldier is a family standing strong! :)