“My father wanted so much to serve his country,” said Carolyn Horton, of Haymarket, Virginia, a Freedom Alliance scholarship recipient.  “He was very proud to be a member of the Medical Service Corps and worked very hard to give all that he had within him.”Carolyn’s father, Army Major Robert Lee Horton, lost his life due to a service-related illness when Carolyn was just six years old.  Her younger brother, Thomas, was 18 months old at the time.

This Fall, Carolyn will be a sophomore at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia,  where she is majoring in Communications.  She is eligible to renew her Freedom Alliance scholarship each year in college.  Carolyn’s younger brother, Thomas, will be eligible to apply for a Freedom Alliance scholarship when he is ready to attend a college.

Major Horton also had a great passion for learning, Carolyn said.  He worked long hours and took graduate level classes on weekends. At the time of his death, he was just a few credits short of attaining his Executive MBA. “He wanted me to always have a passion for learning as well,” she said.

“Even though life has been extremely different and harder than I could have ever imagined since my Dad died, I continue to move forward and pursue excellence,” Carolyn said. She graduated high school with a 3.94 GPA while maintaining a number of extracurricular activities, including serving as an assistant soccer coach, as a peer mentor and a Youth Salute Finalist.  She also participated in three mission trips.

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