Sergeant Diana Vasquez
US ARMY
U.S. Army 1998-2005 | Afghanistan Military Intelligence - Cryptologic Linguist | Comsec | Humint
Kuwait | Crypto Linguist | Iraq Crypto Linguist
Sponsor: Revolver
U.S. Army Sgt. Diana Vasquez was born the youngest of four daughters in the small community of De Leon, Texas. Growing up in a family of migrant and seasonal farm workers, Vasquez spent her childhood moving from state to state. The value of hard work was instilled in her from a young age, and she carried it well into adulthood.
Vasquez always felt a calling to serve and protect her country. She served six years and 3 deployments in Afghanistan, Kuwait and Iraq,first as an aviation mechanic, followed by work in Military Intelligence as a cryptologic linguist.
Vasquez’s work as an aviation mechanic caused severe wear-and-tear to her knees. Despite her injuries, she chose to switch her MOS and remain on active duty in 2001, and was deployed to Afghanistan in 2003. Her emotionally taxing work in intelligence during this deployment would become the root of her PTSD, yet she volunteered to deploy to Iraq just one month after returning home from Afghanistan to stay with her unit. It was during her Iraq deployment that Vasquez had suffered injuries/illnesses. Nearly two months into her deployment, she was ordered to be medically evacuated. Vasquez was awarded with the Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal and more for her service.
Despite undergoing several surgeries and coping with the side effects of PTSD, Vasquez marches on with the support of her devoted husband, Marco, to help care for their then 9 year-old son (16) currently; her mother, a breast cancer survivor (now deceased); and her nieces and nephews in her hometown of De Leon. Vasquez and Marco live by the words, “You reap what you sow,” and they are dedicated to giving back to their local community by donating their time to various youth and veterans organizations and providing free-of-charge services to the elderly.
Operation Finally Home, with support from Anthony Estates Homes is humbled and honored to provide the Vasquez family with a custom-built, mortgage-free home in Granbury, TX in 2017.
Vasquez , is now a published author.
Her book is titled Stars,Stripes & Sacrifice. All proceeds from the sale of her book, goes back into her non-profit. Vasquez runs a 501c3 non-profit organization also by the name of Stars, Stripes & Sacrifice.
She also does a drive for homeless Veterans
"Macs Packs Random Acts of Kindness " .
last year they were able to assist 112 homeless Veterans. This year their goal is 200 backpacks. Find her on Facebook under Stars, Stripes & Sacrifice.