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 and I met 10th grade year of high school. We were always best friends, but had significant others the whole time we were in high school. After graduation we lost touch and kinda went our seperate ways. A couple years after high school my Josh added me in Facebook, and he was in the army in Iraq serving our country. We talked about old times and picked up where we left off, but still had boyfriends and girlfriends. After serving our country for 7 years, being in Iraq China Iraq again he finically returned home. He then wrote me on Facebook and asked me to lunch. I had never been so nervous in my life because I secretly had a crush on him this whole time as did he. And for once we were both single! The date went perfect! We have been married for a year and together for 3 and haven’t spent a day apart since. This man worked so hard serving our country, and has PTSD today. Works very hard today to provide for his family and raise his son in a Christian house hold. For this I am forever greatfullllll.
This is easy :) hands down… My husband. He is in the army, has been since the day I met him 7 years ago. He selflessly (like all men and women serving) gives up so much to serve the country he loves so much. When he is home, he is 100% Dad and husband… He balances it all amazingly. He is my rock, he makes this army wife job all worth it. <3 Thank you for this opportunity… My girls would look beautiful in this gorgeous dress!
My Hometown hero was my Grandfather, a POW from World War II. He was a pilot who got shot down and was picked up by the Japanese. I can remember him telling us stories of his adventures when we were little. He would always make the stories sound like even though he was in a tough place he remembered to stay strong and was never worried about whether or not he would make it home. As an adult, hearing the same stories but with the real details it makes me realize how brave he was and how much I am grateful for what he did for us. He did come home, and was able to live a long full life with my Dad, my Grandmother and my aunts. It was a blessing for him to be a part of our life when my son was born and even though it was hard when he passed, he was home. In our hometown. He will always be my Number 1 hero.
My hero is my husband. He served 2 tours overseas, 1 before we met and the other in 2009 right after our son turned 1. He served 11 years. He is honorably discharged as a captain.
Tracey Greene is my favorite military spouse. She has so much heart it is incredible. I grew up with Tracey as she lived one street over from me. When we were in middle school her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time. She wasn’t supposed to survive the first time but made it to remission before it came back. When her mother passed Tracey and I drifted apart. Tracey went to a bad place and started hanging with a different crowd of people. Not long after her mothers passing, her father moved them to Pennsylvania and we lost touch. With the help of facebook we have re-connected. Her husband is in the military (airborne I believe) out of Ft. Bragg. They had their daughter in November of 2011. When Claire was three months old he had to go over seas for 9 months. In January of this year he has had to return to Afghanistan for another 9-12 months. She is my hero. She overcame the loss of her mother and found God again. I wish I had half of her strength to do what she does and she does it all to help others. She recently came to stay with me after her husband deployed and she drooled over my 11 WDW outfits. I offered for her to borrow them any time she wants. I have the HF bubble from last year and she eyed it but I could see she might have taken me up on it if it was the dress. I think if she won one she would be ecstatic! We thank her every day for what her husband does to protect this country and she is very humbled by it!