Hometown Hero: Military Mom sends support to troops overseas

Carol Dion’s daughter, Melissa, is a Staff Sergeant in the US Army stationed at Fort Drum in New York.  She’s been deployed to Iraq twice since 2003.

During her deployments, Carol Dion took over as “Mom” to her daughter’s young son, and made sure everything was taken care of back at home.  She also made sure her daughter was taken care of by sending her care packages overseas – especially during the holidays. 

But Carol Dion didn’t stop there. She reached out to other soldiers in her daughter’s unit by sending them packages, and then kept reaching out to more and more troops.  One year, with the help of friends, she says they sent 600 Christmas stockings to troops serving in Iraq.

When nominating her mom as this month’s hometown hero, Staff Sgt. Melissa Dion wrote, “when you’re not with your family, the little things matter and knowing someone went to all that effort so you could get something special for Christmas is great. Just knowing someone here in the states is thinking about you warms your heart and makes what you’re doing over there worth it.“

When Staff Sgt. Melissa Dion returned to the US, Carol Dion continued to work hard to let troops overseas know she and many others back home were thinking about them.  She helped start a new chapter of Blue Star Mothers and is currently the vice president of Blue Star Mothers of Coastal Carolina. 

Blue Star Mothers is an organization for parents who have children serving in the US Military.  Their goal is to support one another and send support to troops overseas. 

Carol Dion was surprised to find out she was selected as this month’s hometown hero. 

“There are a lot of other mothers that are out there doing the same thing.  When your kids are in the military you form a real bond with the other mothers, and you want to make sure that their kids have everything they possibly can when they’re deployed,” Carol Dion said.

Right now, The Blue Star Mothers of Coastal Carolina are working on sending Easter bags to troops overseas.  To find out how you can help with that effort you can visit their website, http://www.bluestarmothersofcoastalcarolina.com.

If you are interested in joining, they always welcome new members.