Unapologetically herself, a victor in her own story

BAUMHOLDER, Germany — Staff Sgt. Melyssa Vazquez has spent her current deployment focused on telling other people’s stories.

Ask her why, and she will point back to her family, her culture and a promise she made to her father.

Vazquez, a public affairs specialist with the Pennsylvania National Guard’s 109th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment deployed in support of U.S. Special Operations Command Europe, describes herself as a proud Puerto Rican and Nicaraguan Latina who grew up in the Bronx. She says storytelling starts with knowing who you are and where you come from.

“My culture is heavily centered around community,” Vazquez said. “I try to depict the importance of each Soldier’s story when I capture content of them. I also try to bring that sense of community into the relationships I build with my fellow Soldiers.”

Right now she serves as a social media manager for SOCEUR. In that role, she strives to show that every service member brings something valuable to the military.

Her senior leaders say the role has revealed just how much she has grown. According to 1st Sgt. HollyAnn Nicom, the senior enlisted leader of the 109th MPAD, Vazquez has shown the unit who she is as well.

“Since leaving home, she has really blossomed as a leader, focused on fulfilling our SOCEUR mission and making sure those around her are keeping their morale up,” Nicom said. “Her organization skills, creativity and professionalism have all played a large part in ramping up SOCEUR’s social media pages.”

Vazquez didn’t start her military career in public affairs. She first served as a telecommunications technician, far from the social media feeds she manages today. The turning point came during a COVID‑19 relief operation, when she spotted a public affairs Soldier working a mission. It was the first time she realized the Army had a job that looked a lot like what she loved doing in her free time.

“I saw a Public Affairs Soldier and told myself that one day I would be the one behind the camera,” Vazquez said. “That moment inspired me to pursue this career, and I’m grateful I did.”

She stepped fully into a role where her passion for content creation, her psychology degree and her master’s in communication could all come together.

Her love for documenting life goes back long before her time in uniform. Growing up, her father constantly took pictures and videos of their family, turning everyday moments into memories. He was, she said, a huge part of why she fell in love with cameras and storytelling.

Before this deployment, she packed a Puerto Rican flag. Her plan was to bring it to every country she visited and build a compilation video as a tribute to her family. During their last conversation, she told her father about the idea and he loved it.

Then, in the middle of the deployment, while she was alone on a mission in Belgium, she got the call that he had died.

After going home to spend some time with her family, she chose to stay on deployment. It wasn’t about ignoring the grief. For Vazquez, it was about finishing what she started and honoring what her loved ones wanted for her. Not long after her father died, her grandmother passed away unexpectedly as well.

“What guided my commitment to the deployment after loss was continuing to live out the life that my lost loved ones would have wanted me to live,” Vazquez said. “The best way I can honor both my father’s legacy and my own is to make the most of the life and opportunities I’ve been given.”

Finishing the tribute video they had talked about became part of that.

She hasn’t done it alone. Vazquez is quick to credit the people around her, and the work she’s done on herself, for helping her keep moving.

“What has kept me going is my support system,” Vazquez said. “My family, friends and peers have continually reminded me how proud they are of me. Their encouragement has helped me keep moving forward, even on the hardest days.”

Day to day, resilience looks practical. She makes a point of prioritizing her mental and physical health by exercising, talking to a therapist and leaning on the people she trusts. She has also found small pockets of joy in travel during the deployment, getting to see new places and experiences she might not have had otherwise.

Underpinning all of it is her faith.

“Most importantly, my faith and daily worship are the foundation of everything and has given me the strength to keep going,” Vazquez said.

That mix of personal experience and professional training has sharpened her voice as a mental health advocate. Vazquez wants other Soldiers to know that asking for help is not a sign of weakness or failure.

“Vulnerability and honesty are some of the strongest tools you can have,” Vazquez said. “No one is meant to face challenges or grief alone. There are so many resources available to us, and we should use them to our advantage.”

It’s a message she tries to model in how she talks about her own story and in the way she connects with the Soldiers she photographs.

In the middle of everything this year has brought, Vazquez added one more demanding challenge to her plate. In May she participated in an IronMan 5150 triathlon in Kraichgau, Germany, testing her physical ability but also her mental toughness and discipline in training.

The race wasn’t just about fitness or checking a box.

“The triathlon was important to me because I wanted to prove to myself how strong and capable I am,” Vazquez said. “I also wanted to reconnect with my inner child because I swam competitively and ran cross country growing up.”

On race day, every stroke, pedal and step carried months of training and grief. But crossing the finish line, she said, represented healing, resilience, and was a reminder that she can accomplish hard things, even during the most difficult season of her life.

Her leaders have noted her strong work ethic in physical fitness as well. Nicom pointed out that Vazquez has even provided mentorship and encouragement to one Soldier in particular, offering her time to be their running partner to train for the Army Fitness Test.

“Staff Sgt. Vazquez has met every challenge head-on during this deployment. She truly puts the mission first,” Nicom said. “I think her resiliency is admirable and is a testament to how committed she is to her position in the MPAD.”

As a public affairs specialist, Vazquez now brings all of that into the way she tells other people’s stories. Her culture, her father’s influence, her grief, her faith and her triathlon finish all contribute to the mission. She looks for the human details behind the uniform, the small moments that show why someone serves or what keeps them going. She wants her work on official social media pages to not just inform, but to remind families and Soldiers that they are seen and valued.

For anyone else quietly carrying a heavy burden on deployment, Vazquez hopes her own journey offers at least a spark of encouragement.

“We don't get to choose the circumstances life throws at us, but we do get to choose how we respond to them,” Vazquez said. “We can choose to be the victors in our own stories instead of allowing our circumstances to define us.”

Her advice to grieving Soldiers is simple but demanding: give yourself permission to feel everything and keep moving toward the life you are meant to live.

She says the best thing they can do for themselves while grieving is honor every part of the process, allow themselves to feel every emotion and continue living to their fullest potential while persevering.

“Their story can become a testimony that gives hope to others who may be facing similar struggles,” Vazquez said. “I think sharing my personal story by embracing my culture and being unapologetically myself wherever I go has helped me understand the importance of telling the stories of our Soldiers and the Army.”