Being a Part of the Heroes Thanking Heroes Program

I’ll start out by introducing myself. I am Joy Marshall, a Military spouse and a Military Mother while I provide care for my veteran husband, Trey. He enlisted with the United States Army in September 2007 at the age of 28. He deployed to Iraq the following June. 

Trey was wounded in Iraq by a mortar that hit 35-40 yards away from his Humvee in March 2009. The blast threw him out of his gunner’s seat and onto the hard ground at a weird angle. With all the heavy gear he was wearing, it was a massive fall. It twisted his neck while his body went the other direction. He ruptured some discs and was knocked unconscious for almost 10 minutes. He doesn’t remember being injured, only waking up. He finished up his year-long deployment, not realizing the extent of his injuries until he was back home and went into the WTU until retiring out of the Army.

I also have two sons, one who served in OIF in Iraq, in which he sustained injuries and PTSD. My oldest son is still full active with a wife and daughter. Trey and I have two beautiful daughters with a total of 4 grandchildren.

I am currently working in the Heroes Thanking Heroes Program. I am the Assistant Team Lead for the Quality Assurance Department, and I also make calls to our wonderful donors to thank them for their support in helping our wounded veterans and their families. I still think about one donor I spoke with not too long ago...

He was stationed at Pearl Harbor and was on the ship USS Oklahoma that was bombed in the early hours as he was sleeping in their bunks on the ship. When the bomb hit, the ship was going down; as the gentlemen stated, they were treading in the cold water with other military men- fighting off the sharks as they were waiting for help for hours on end. It really touched my heart that day to hear what those soldiers went through and know they are helping our wounded veterans today. 

Having the opportunity to connect with other veteran families has helped. Being involved with the Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes has been a huge blessing for my husband and me. We have met a lot of wonderful, wounded veterans along the way and have been able to participate in some really cool activities and programs that have helped restore hope to our family. 

Thank you to The Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes for all you have done for My husband and me and so many wounded veterans. 

Marshall Family