Last week I travelled to Fort Worth, Texas for the AFI Sky Ball. Over the course of just a few days, I got to speak to the spouses & Marines of 8^th Marine Corps District, meet 16 Medal of Honor recipients, and the 12^th Sgt Major of the Marine Corps. I had no idea when I embarked on that trip that I would encounter so many life-changing moments, and it has become the ongoing theme of serving as the Military Spouse of the Year.

Being a recruiting duty wife (35 successful months down might I add) my first priority has been to reach out to those spouses enduring the unknown hardships of this B billet. When I found out the annual spouses’ conference would be in conjunction with my trip, I was ecstatic that I would have the opportunity to share my lessons learned from this 36 month deployment.  The 8^th District provided the attendees with resource briefs from Tricare to Navy Marine Corps Relief Society, EFMP to Military OneSource. My time with them wouldn’t be about resources, but rather I wanted to focus on them. I wanted to reinforce to them just how important they are; it is easy to get lost in the successes of our Marines so my goal is to ensure that my fellow sisters & brothers in the silent ranks start to focus on their individual hopes and dreams.

For the remainder of the weekend, I was in the company of 16 Medal of Honor recipients from all branches. The men clearly share a strong bond with one another, one that can only be understood by the warriors who have faced what the average human being would run from.  At my table sat Marine Captain Robert Modrzejewski (Ret), he is a veteran who was awarded his MOH for actions while in the jungles of Vietnam serving with Company K, 3^rd Battalion. It was humbling to meet this modest hero, who may not realize the lasting impact his story had on all of us around him. His story encourages me to live every day in a way that honors the sacrifice he and the other men made for our country.

At the end of the evening, a man with a cowboy hat approached me to tell me how proud he is of me. Little did I know, until the moment he handed me his coin, was that this man served as the 12^th Sgt Major of the Marine Corps. Sgt Maj Overstreet had all of the characteristics of our great leaders; he took control of the microphone and began to share stories from when he served. Then perhaps the most motivational moment came when he recruited a group of young Marines to stand at attention and recite the Marine Corps Hymn.

In 13 years of being around the Marine Corps, I have had many moments where I am reminded of how tight knit of a family we are. For we could be strangers, but if we share a love of the Corps, we are instantly able to engage in conversation like old friends. And that pride runs through not just the Marines, but the family members as well. Being away from a base for the past 3 years, I have missed the feeling of esprit de Corps; thankfully, my position has allowed me to travel to places that remind me of the camaraderie of our great organization. With birthday ball season approaching, what has being a part of the Marine Corps meant to you?

To learn more about our Medal of Honor recipients, visit: http://www.cmohs.org/recipient-detail/3365/modrzejewski-robert-j.php