By the time Debbie and her husband, Harold, became a family of eight in 1983, life in South Louisiana was already beautifully full. Between five sons and one daughter born over the course of ten years, the Courtois household was busy in all the best ways. There were family dinners, packed schedules, lessons in responsibility, and the everyday moments that slowly shape children into adults. Above all else, Debbie and Harold hoped to raise children who would become good people.

“As a mother and father raising five sons and one daughter, we thought it was very important that they be disciplined, responsible, and compassionate human beings,” Debbie says. “We wanted them to be assets to society.”

Today, the couple lives in Sugar Mill Pond, where they moved in 2020 as empty nesters looking for a strong sense of community after spending 35 years living in a quieter country setting. But long before arriving in the neighborhood, Debbie and Harold had already experienced a journey that would forever shape their understanding of patriotism, sacrifice, and service to country.

Their oldest son, Chad Courtois, joined the United States Marine Corps in 1991 shortly after graduating from high school. He completed boot camp in San Diego before serving active duty at Camp Pendleton in California through 1995. While Debbie and her husband felt tremendous pride watching their son become a Marine, there was also an underlying fear that every military family understands.

“When Chad decided to sign up, we were excited and proud but very apprehensive,” Debbie recalls. “After all, there could always be a chance of going to war.”

Still, Chad’s transformation left a lasting impression on his younger brothers, especially the family’s twin sons, Cye and Curt. Ten years younger than their older brother, the twins watched in awe when Chad returned home from boot camp wearing his Marine Corps Dress Blues.

“They were very impressed at how he looked and acted,” Debbie says. “Later down the road, they decided that they wanted to be Devil Dog tough Marines as well.”

After graduating high school in 2000, the twins briefly attended UL but quickly realized they were searching for something more meaningful than college parties and fraternity life. Encouraged by their older brother and drawn to the challenge and discipline of military life, they enlisted as Marine reservists in January 2001.

At the time, no one could have imagined how dramatically the world was about to change.

On September 11, 2001, Debbie sat watching the Twin Tower attacks unfold on television like millions of other Americans. But for her, the tragedy carried an even deeper personal weight. Two of her sons were Marines, and almost instantly, she sensed what might lie ahead.

“A silent fear immediately arose in my spirit as I watched the tragedy unfold on my TV,” she says. “I knew they would be called to war.”

In 2004, that fear became reality when Cye and Curt’s company out of Lafayette was activated and deployed to Iraq. Two brothers serving side by side in the same platoon were suddenly heading into a war zone together. For Debbie and her husband, it marked the beginning of one of the most difficult seasons their family had ever endured.

“I believe that the hardest part of having children serve in the military is the fear that comes with being deployed to a war zone,” Debbie says.

Like so many military families, they learned to live in the space between overwhelming pride and constant worry. The family leaned heavily on faith, prayer, and one another during the deployment. Debbie says support from family and friends became a source of strength, and their immediate family gathered weekly for meals and prayed the rosary together.

During the darkest moments, Debbie repeatedly found herself turning to a passage from the Book of Jeremiah that brought her peace:

“Thus says the Lord, cease your cries of mourning, wipe the tears from your eyes. The sorrow you have shown shall have its reward says the Lord, they shall return from the enemy’s land. There is hope for your future says the Lord, your sons shall return to their borders.”

“My fear subsided and I trusted and believed that God spoke those words directly to me,” she says.

Even in the midst of uncertainty, there were moments of incredible pride that remain deeply emotional for Debbie to this day. One of the most meaningful experiences of her life was attending each of her sons’ Marine Corps graduation ceremonies.

“My heart was so full that I thought it would burst with gratitude and pride,” she says. “I cried the entire time.”

Still, nothing compared to the joy of finally welcoming her sons home safely from Iraq in April 2005. After months of prayers, fear, and waiting, the family stood on the airport tarmac preparing for the reunion they had dreamed about every day during the deployment.

“The most joyful moment for our family was their return home,” Debbie says. “Walking on the tarmac at the airport and running for hugs and kisses was the pinnacle. They were home. They were home safely.”

As America celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, the Courtois family’s story serves as a reminder that freedom is not simply an idea woven into history books or celebrated with fireworks each July. For families across this country, freedom has always come at a personal cost. It is carried quietly by mothers and fathers who pray through sleepless nights, by families who wait anxiously for homecomings, and by young men and women willing to place service above themselves.

For Debbie, becoming a military mother forever changed her understanding of patriotism.

“Becoming a military family has given me a greater understanding of what true freedom and sacrifice of service to our country really means,” she says. “The determination to do what you must regardless of the feeling. It means even in the pain and the fear, you deny the desire to flee because you know that regardless of the feeling, the greatest gift that one can give is to give up one’s own life for another. That’s what our brave men and women of the United States military do everyday”

When asked what makes her most proud, Debbie’s answer is simple and unwavering.

“I’m so very proud and honored that I have raised three young men who heard the call and responded, ‘Send me,’” she says. “Freedom isn’t free.”