Staff Sergeant Dewayne Manson – U.S. Army National Guard — Kiss Country Salutes

Every week, Kiss Country is making a special point to thank all those incredible men and women who have served our great country and fought for our freedoms! We appreciate the sacrifices made by service personnel and their families, this week we salute Staff Sergeant Dewayne Manson of the Texas Army National Guard. His mom writes:

My son SSGT. Dewayne Manson has been in the Texas National Guard since he was 17 years of age. During his Junior year at Texas High, in Texarkana, he came to me and told me he wanted to join the National Guard.  So we went and talked to a local recruiter and signed him up. At the end of his senior year of 2002, I watched my baby boy walk across the stage to receive his diploma. Three weeks later I took him to Shreveport to ship out to Fort Benning, GA, for his boot camp. He was there for a total of 16 weeks. At the end of the 16 weeks I went to GA to see him graduate boot camp. When I first saw him, he was not the same boy I sent off. My heart was so full of joy and pride for him. I cried the whole time they were being presented because I realized that in those 16 weeks he was not my baby boy anymore, he was now a man that was going to protect our freedoms. He has served the country at Dyess Air force base for 2 years, then he has been to Kosovo for 1 year,  has been to Iraq and Kuwait for 1 year, and then he did border patrol for 2 years in McAllen, Tx. He is now in Afghanistan for another 1 year tour. The only difference on this tour is he is now married and has a young son state side. They got married in April of this year, and he shipped out in July of this year. This tour is much harder on him because now he has more responsibilities at home…..but with the love of his family, friends, and most important God, he has and will come home safely to us.

I support all families that have family members overseas, without them we would not have the freedoms that we have now, and with that being said I Salute all members of the military and their families for the sacrifices they make on a daily basis..
GOD BLESS AMERICA AND THE PEOPLE WHO DEFEND IT!!!

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