Photo By Staff Sgt. Austin Baker | Gold Star mother Debbie Gannon visits the 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) Memorial...... read more read more
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FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Every year on December 6, as the winter air settles over the 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) Memorial Walk, a small Christmas tree appears beside a name engraved in a stone. It’s not part of any ceremony. No crowds gather. No speeches are made.
It’s simply a mother keeping her promise.
For Gold Star mother Debbie Gannon, the date isn’t just another day on the calendar, it’s her son’s birthday. Sgt. 1st Class Jeremiah Johnson was killed in combat eight years ago. Without a gravesite, the memorial stone at Fort Bragg became the only place she could visit, speak to, or sit beside her son.
“This is all I have,” she said. “So I come here and I bring him a tree. It is the one thing he loved that I can still give him.”
A small artificial Christmas tree with just a few simple decorations is placed at the base of the stone. Debbie stands beside it in silence before arranging the flowers. She talks to him briefly, the way she would on any birthday, and then steps back. She never rushes the moment.
“It started a few years after we lost him,” she said. “Christmas was his favorite holiday. He was like a big kid. So the tree felt right. It felt like him.”
The ritual follows the same pattern each year. After placing the tree at the memorial, Debbie visits Charlie Mike’s, a local establishment, to raise a birthday toast. If the day falls during the week, Soldiers who served with Jeremiah often join her. Some have already transitioned out of the Army but still return when they can.
“They show up, they talk with me, and they help keep his memory alive,” she said. “That support matters more than they know.”
Debbie said the tradition continues regardless of who can join her. “If no one showed up, I would still come,” she said. “I come because it is his birthday.”
Jeremiah joined the Army at 29 after years working in a body shop painting cars and motorcycles. Debbie remembers being shocked when he told her he was joining, and even more surprised when he chose the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear field.
“He loved it,” she said. “He found something he believed in.”
But what she remembers most is how he lived. He was a prankster with a loud sense of humor, the kind of friend others relied on. If someone called him at 3 a.m., he would get up and drive across the state to help.
That loyalty extended into the military community, and Debbie still keeps in contact with many of his former teammates. They message her, check in during holidays, and carry pieces of Jeremiah’s story with them.
“The support from 3rd Group has never gone away,” she said. “And that means everything.”
Before leaving the memorial each December 6, Debbie turns back to the birthday tree one final time. She straightens an ornament, adjusts the bouquet, and takes a quiet breath. She never leaves abruptly. She never interrupts the moment.
“I just want to keep his name alive,” she said. “And I hope someone keeps this going when I am gone.”
As she walked away this year, the small tree remained beside the stone, bright against the gray December morning. For anyone passing by, it might seem like a simple decoration. For Debbie, it is proof that her son is remembered, loved, and celebrated every year on the day he came into the world.
It is not a ceremony. It is not an event. It is a promise fulfilled.
| Date Taken: | 12.06.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 12.09.2025 11:36 |
| Story ID: | 553538 |
| Location: | FORT BRAGG, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 78 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, A Tree for Jeremiah, by SSG Austin Baker, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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