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 hero has & always will be my grandfather Clarence Mayhew. He was 1 of the few survivors of the HMT Rohna that was attacked during WWII, the morning after Thanksgivkng in 1943. He was thankful he only lost an eye & was able to help rescue several others, which is why he was awarded a Purple Heart. The stories he would tell about that event & how it makes you appreciate life even more. He was so very active with the disabled vets. As a young child we often visited the hospitals & some others that were receiving home care.
Not much is ever said about the Rohna & the nightmare those went through. The ship had a little over 2k crew & only about 900 survivors. Only until recently if you were not personally affected by it, you knew nothing about it. I am proud to have so many members of my family serving or served previously in all branches of the service, however the sacrifice & determination if my grandfather has helped so many that knew him.
I’m nominating my husband, Nick. We met in high school and started dating in my sophomore year of high school. He left for the Navy upon graduation, and I left for the Army immediately after graduating high school. We remained in contact with one another, though it was hard with him going around the world on a 6 month deployment on his first assignment aboard an air craft carrier. I wound up getting medically discharged from the Army, and he insisted I join him in Virginia—his next duty station. A few months later I was leaving my home in Alaska to reunite with my high school sweetheart. We got married in April 1998, and in February 2000, we welcomed our first baby boy. Before he was due to deploy for another 6 months, he made the decision to become a reservist in the Navy. During his year as a reservist, he signed up with the Coast Guard, and went on active duty in Nov. 2001. we’ve endured several deployments leaving me behind to hold down the fort. We welcomed three more sons during the next seven years. In January 2009, we had a big surprise—we were expecting baby #5. In September 2009, we welcomed our first sweet baby girl, Ella. She is the light of her daddy’s eyes, and when she asks him why does he have to go bye bye (deployment), he tells her why—so he can buy her more pretty dresses and defend our country. He returned from a year long deployment this summer, and we got another surprise. Baby girl #2 is due in April, and we are all excited, as she’ll complete our family.
My Home Town Hero is Tara Clark. Her husband is in Afghanistan. She is raising their one year old daughter, Anna Marie. Tara works full time in a Special Ed class room. The hearts and lives she has touched/changed keeps me in awe of her. She has reached some of her students that suffer with austism. The children’s parents are forever grateful when Tara can help the children out of their world. Just a “Hello Mom.” from the kids can make a huge difference! I do not understand how she does it, but I DO know God gave her a special ability.
My hero has to be my husband! He is in the army previously an infantry man. Even though he has to leave us quite a bit he is the best father and husband I could ask for. I never thought in a million years would I have someone as wonderful as he is. He helps with every aspect of our children’s lives. Always there to change a diaper when mommy is just too tired. He truly is my hero in both ways of fighting for our freedom and being the most incredible father and husband.