MELISSA MATIS
Growing up in Arkansas, Mel moved often. At times she lived in places with no running water or electricity, and she remembers doing her homework by the light of a kerosene lamp and visiting the nearby fire station to fill water buckets as her only water source. With a goal of moving away from Arkansas and seeing more of the world, Mel ultimately decided to enlist in the United States Marine Corps at 17, just nine days after 9-11.