Matt Marks

Matt Marks was born and raised in Lincoln Park, Michigan. His family of 5… mom, dad and two siblings…
lived in Lincoln Park until Matt joined the Army at the age of 20.

Matt joined the military because he had been working a variety of jobs and felt like he was going
nowhere. He wanted something more but didn't know what it was. In September of 2005 he and a
friend he worked with talked about joining the Army. He and his friend met with a recruiter but didn’t
think about it much after that. One day he had the inspiration took the plunge… he signed up and went
home to tell his family that he was leaving for the Army in two weeks.

When he left for basic and began to adjust to the military lifestyle, he realized that he had found what
he was looking for and what he needed.

The date was October 2005. He attended basic training at Ft Leonard Wood, MO. After basic he was
stationed at Ft Carson, CO where he was assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division 2nd BSTB. While he was
with the 2 nd , they were ordered to Iraq. He fought in Baghdad from October 2006 to January 2008. After
Iraq the 2nd was reflagged to 4th Infantry Division. In 2009 orders came down for the 4th to deploy to
Afghanistan. Matt served in Afghanistan from May 2009 to May 2010. While in Afghanistan, he was
awarded a purple heart for injuries sustained during a mission trying to gather information on a terrorist
cell in the 4 th ’s area of operation.

Matt served in the Army for 7 years. He has never been married. He is currently in a journeyman’s
welding program. His interests include golf and motorcycling.

Bucket List Dreams sponsors Veterans to participate in the annual ‘Purple Heart Hunt’ at the famous
Legends Ranch. Matt’s name was suggested by another Veteran. BLD consequently selected Matt for
the 2024 Hunt. The Hunt will be held during Labor Day week. We want to wish Matt a successful hunt
and hope that he has a fantastic time. We want to thank him for his service and wish him the very best
of luck in the future.