My son Matt is my hero. From the 1st time he saw a pair a khaki’s he’s wanted to be in the military. In elementary school, Matt was diagnosed with ADHD and struggled to do what he had to to get off his medication within the time line for him to enlist. He was always a good kid and did things to help people just for the pleasure of doing it. In High School, Matt was in JROTC for 3 years, honing his skills for team leadership, discipline and to aide in his future military career.

At 17, Matt and I spoke to an Army Recruiter and I signed the papers for him to enlist in the Reserves. Since he was still actively attending high school and working, he couldn’t enlist full time in the Army. In 2010 Matt was activated and sent to Kandahar, Afghanistan for a year. While there, he was blown up, shot and lost his favorite uncle to lung cancer but his spirits remained high and he kept focus on his team and helping to keep them safe and alive. Matt came home last year with all fingers and toes (yes, as mom I counted them when he got here). My son Matt is MY hero!! He has done things a LOT of people wouldn’t do and lived through things (sadly) some people hadn’t lived through.