Holly Vega
LEADING WITH THE HEART
story by MEGAN THIBAULT MORRIS photos by SUSAN DELOACH
Resilient. Strong. Powerful. These words easily describe the men and women of the United States Marine Corps. The same can be said for the men and women married to Marines, who support their important work, handle deployments and transfers, help take care of the home and the family, and bond together and support their community.
This is a story about Holly Vega, a resilient, strong, powerful military spouse who lives here in Beaufort as her husband, Lieutenant Colonel Javier Vega, serves in the Marine Corps at Parris Island. A South Carolina native, Holly was also the granddaughter of a Marine who started his career at Parris Island.
Holly is as kind a person as you could ever meet. She is energetic and fun-loving. She takes care of her family, supports her husband, and has become a leader among the military spouse community. Admirably, she was recently recognized on a national level as Military Spouse of the Year in 2019 for all branches in the United States.
Her 20-plus-year journey to that distinction is especially noteworthy and portrays the challenges that all military families face. Holly and Javier dated for several years when he first became a Marine. Hailing from Puerto Rico, which Javier calls “the deepest South of the United States,” he arrived at Parris Island only speaking Spanish. Making it through boot camp, Javier was then stationed in California, where he met Holly in 1998.
As their relationship became more serious, so did his role as a Marine. In 2001, Javier was training at 29 Palms for his first regular deployment, and Holly continued her work as a dental assistant while he was away. One morning, just before his deployment, Holly watched as a true tragedy unfolded on the television screen at the dental office waiting room — the attacks on 9/11.
Knowing her boyfriend was supposed to be on a plane made it even more difficult for her, but later that day, she learned his plane had not yet taken off. That would be the only sigh of relief for many months to come. Javier was deployed as expected, but now the world was different. Now the United States was at war.
Before going to Iraq at the beginning of 2002, Holly and Javier tied the knot, and happily committed to their marriage even though it was a daunting time. This is when Holly also became a part of the Marine Corps. She went to the deployment brief for spouses, where the commander made it very clear that it was unlikely everyone who was going to fight in the Middle East would come back home. He emphasized the critical nature of the deployment and instructed families to be as prepared as possible.
Holly’s first year as a military spouse was challenging. A six-month deployment turned into ten months. Holly kept busy with her work and engaged in the military community by taking a LINKS class, which is an acronym that stands for Lifestyle Insights, Networking, Knowledge, and Skills. It is an interactive acculturation program to Marine Corps life and the local installation. She also began volunteering to make friends and help others, and this would be the foundation on which Holly would build her life and reputation.
Instead of watching the news and letting herself worry while Javier was deployed, Holly lived by her mantra, “Bloom where you are planted.” She wrote letters to Javier to stay in touch and still has every single one. She focused on making new friends and learning from mentors in the military spouse community, and she developed the strength and resiliency it takes to be a military spouse.
Fortunately, Javier returned home safely by the end of 2002, and they started a family. The couple now has, according to Holly, “two boys, one girl, one dog, two parrots, four chickens, one rooster, a slew of fish, and a partridge in a pear tree,” which she says with a heart-warming smile.
After many years and many moves in 2018, the Vega family was stationed at MacDill Base, a joint base in Tampa, Florida. There, Holly found herself nominating fellow spouses for one of the most prestigious awards in their circle — Spouse of the Year. First, one must “win” at their own base, which is a high honor, then a process ensues for finding a winner for each military branch, and ultimately a national winner.
What Holly didn’t know was that she too was nominated by her peers. As she and her family left a theater after enjoying popcorn and a movie one afternoon, she began to receive all the calls and text messages due to the announcement that Holly was the winner for the MacDill base!
Despite being shocked and surprised, Holly faced the next step in the process as a contender for one of the top three spouses for the Marine Corps branch. That call came in while she was decorating the school for the father-daughter dance. Holly was quickly advancing through the process thanks to her commitment to volunteering and supporting others.
Next, the official voting commenced for the winner of the military branch Spouse of the Year, and at the end of the voting window, the call came in again. This time, Holly was in the middle of the grocery store, packing her cart with food for her family that week. Upon learning that she was the Spouse of the Year on a national level for the Marine Corps, Holly celebrated with the only person around her, the grocery store cashier Juanita, who she will never forget.
With all her groceries and the great news, Holly returned to her proud, loving family, and soon after, the base gave her a beautiful plaque. Having made it that far, the final step in the process was to travel to Washington, DC, and be honored as a finalist with the other branches’ Spouse of the Year winners. While Holly humbly accepted the opportunity, her fellow spouses, friends, and family knew she stood a good chance to win it all.
And that’s exactly what she did.
To conclude the special dinner in Washington, all the nominees were recognized, and when the overall winner’s photo was unveiled, there was the Vega family photo. Holly’s special dinner suddenly included a whirlwind trip to New York, where she was interviewed on major news outlets and enjoyed the pomp and circumstance in her honor around Washington.
Fortunately, she enjoyed all of these opportunities with Javier by her side. When Lieutenant Colonel Javier Vega was asked how proud he was of Holly, he quickly replied, “I am very proud to be married to a woman who is always helping others. She has done a lot for Marine Corps communities, and while she never looks for credit, I know she is worthy of this award.”
All of this publicity made Holly powerful. In true fashion, she used this power to lift up others and give more prominence to significant efforts like USO Promotions, Suicide Prevention Campaigns, and one cause that’s very near and dear to her, Military Hearts Matter.
As a long-standing advocate for heart health initiatives, Holly had the motivation to do more. The day before her important interview for the national award, Holly received devastating news. One of her close friends lost her young daughter, Nova, to heart disease when her defibrillator stopped working.
In that interview, she expressed the tragedy her military community was currently facing and did not care that her inability to focus on the interview would negatively impact her chances of winning the overall title. The judges saw firsthand how she had the strength and resiliency to support others through hard times. They saw exactly why Holly’s work with the American Heart Association and why the creation of Military Hearts Matter were so important, so personal.
Today, though Holly has “passed the torch” of the annual title of Military Spouse of the Year her volunteerism continues, and her nonprofit organization, Military Hearts Matter, is making progress in educating and supporting heart-related initiatives for those who serve in the military and their families. From her award as the National Military Spouse of the Year, to her daily work helping others, Holly says that “angel Nova is her guiding light.”
Holly is resilient, strong, and powerful, but most of all, she is compassionate.
