John DePierre

John David DePierre was born at Rose Hospital in Aurora, Colorado. He moved to Louisiana at age 8 to live with his grandparents. At the age of 20, he enlisted in the US Army, serving 2 tours in Iraq - first with the 82nd Airborne and the second with the 4th Infantry Division - totaling 27 months of combat during his almost 6 years of active duty service. During this time, he received 3 Army Commendation medals and his Combat Infantryman's Badge. He served as a gunner in an 81 mm mortar platoon responsible for laying in the mortar and provided immediate suppressive fire support for his fellow paratroopers, while maintaining his equipment to the 82nd standards.

After being honorably discharged in the summer of 2011, he returned home to Louisiana, where he attended the University of Phoenix, in pursuit of his Bachelors of Science in Business Management, completing half of his required courses. After connecting with the Wounded Warrior Project in 2018 and attending a few of their in-person events, the weekly email came in with a link to the Dog Tag Fellowship and he immediately signed up.

His favorite baked goods are oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.