Thomas “Tom” Carpenter is a 60-year-old retired Army First Sergeant. His first enlistment was in the Marines from 1980-1984, then the Army from 1986-2006. He was injured in Iraq during May of 2005 while serving with Charlie Company, 1st– 503rd, 2nd Infantry Division and retired in October 2006 after recovering from his injuries at Brook Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. Tom says he “enlisted in the Marines my senior year in high school to see the world, get money for college, and serve my country. I enlisted in the Army after my break in service because I missed the military way of life, so did my wife.”
Tom met his wife Maria “Connie” Rivera in 1981 and they were married in November of 1982. She is from Harlingen, Texas. Together they have five children aged 31-39. From those children they have 14 grandkids aged 2-21; five of which live with them. Connie enjoys canning, sewing, traveling, and spending time with Tom and their grandchildren.
Tom grew up in the countryside of SW Michigan and worked on a small dairy farm from the age of 11 to 16. He then worked for a water well drilling and repair company until leaving for the Marine Corps. After his first enlistment in the Marines, he returned home and worked for a water well business before he reenlisted in the Army. Tom’s military assignments include service in the following units, XII Corps Headquarters in Germany, 3rd Ranger Battalion with a combat deployment supporting Operation Just Cause in Panama, 75th Ranger Regiment Headquarters (ROP) at Fort Benning Georgia, Drill Sergeant at Fort Sill Oklahoma, ROTC Instructor at South Dakota State University, 2nd Infantry Division in Korea, and a combat deployment to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Since retiring, Tom went to college through 2010, at which time he and Connie started full time care for five of their grandchildren. They currently live on 40 acres in Michigan which they purchased in 2017 and are slowly developing into a small farm. Their granddaughters are requesting that pigs be added to the farm so they can enjoy bacon along with chicken eggs every day. Apparently, they don’t fully understand where the bacon comes from, and that it isn’t as readily available as the eggs are. Tom also enjoys goose hunting, deer hunting, and trapping with his grandsons.
