Gillette resident Matthew Hohnholt’s destiny was to put on a uniform.
One grandfather fought in World War II as a medic, and his grandmother worked in U.S. Army Intelligence directly with General Dwight D. Eisenhower during that war.
Another grandfather was a tank mechanic in Korea, and his father was a U.S. Marine who served with Task Force Delta on classified missions in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
Once he graduated from high school in Washington state, Hohnholt traded cowboy boots for combat ones in Marine Corps boot camp.
“I was a young kid, I didn’t have any skills, and it was kind of a golden ticket out,” he said. “I wanted to serve my country, and that meant a lot to me to be able to do it.”
Hohnholt’s enlistment in 2000, and an injury while going through infantry school, had him reassigned to learning electrical repair for generators and other equipment.
Then 9/11 happened.
Hohnholt remembers being at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, when the base commander called all the trainees together to talk about the attacks and “kind of explaining to us what had happened and kind of the uncertainty of the future.”
He was put on a list to go to Afghanistan, but that tour was canceled.
In 2003, he was sent to Kuwait in support of a Marine fighter squadron as the invasion of Iraq was being staged.
That led to a role in providing security for convoys into Iraq when the war got underway.
The 45-year-old now is a 100% disabled veteran who suffered more loss last year when his 19-year-old son, Garrett, took his own life.
Hohnholt is still trying to pay off the funeral debt.
“I’ve been divorced for four years,” he said. “I kind of ran low on money and had to get rid of the house because I couldn’t afford to make payments on it anymore.
"And then I moved in with my brother, and so, I just have been kind of helping with my brother and that’s kind of where I am at.”
Funeral Bill
He said he still owes $8,000 on his son’s funeral bill and is trying to save money for a gravestone.
Candy Morris, a Washington state friend who went to school with Hohnholt, started a GoFundMe campaign last October to try and help chip away at the funeral debt and also to assist with housing.
She characterizes Hohnholt as an “all-around great guy” who is the best friend of her husband.
Morris and her husband moved to Alaska 15 years ago, but Hohnholt has visited a couple of times and they stay in touch.
“He showed up for our family with care and love, spending hours with us and helping care for my newborn daughter,” Morris said. “He became her first babysitter, and I later named her after his grandmother, Faye, a woman who meant so much to him.”
Morris said she was recently contacted by Australian kindness and mental health social media influencer Samuel Weidenhoferl, who asked her to revise the GoFundMe for Hohnholt as part of his “kindness” effort for a veteran in every U.S. state.
Once she did, Weidenhofer made Hohnholt the Wyoming representative of his campaign.
Weidenhofer has helped raise thousands of dollars for veterans in other states. He typically meets with the veteran, does an interview and then posts it on his social media with a link to the GoFundMe.
Weidenhofer has 8.1 million followers on TikTok and 3.3 million on Facebook. His GoFundMe effort so far has raised $2 million nationally from 53,500 donations.
Hohnholt said Weidenhofer traveled to Gillette to meet the man at his son’s grave on Memorial Day.
Hohnholt came away impressed and calls Weidenhofer and his cameraman “super nice guys.”
“I was blown away at him telling me I was selected,” he said. “It was a flattering, humbling experience.
"I have never really been recognized for anything before, and it was pretty emotional. I believe he even got me to cry, just a little bit.”
Thankful For Recognition
Hohnholt said any money he receives is secondary to just being recognized for his time in the Marines and trying to lead by example while he served.
He said he appreciated “just having someone there and telling me that I was not alone.”
An attempt to reach Weidenhofer was not successful.
Hohnholt said he appreciates people who have donated to the GoFundMe to help with his son’s funeral costs.
Garrett Hohnholt struggled with depression for much of his life, but had seemed to have come of the tunnel of darkness that surrounded him, he said.
“He graduated from high school and had a couple of really good friends that he loved,” Hohnholt said. “It really shocked me. … I spent a lot of my time with him and I was really looking forward to getting to know him as a man.”
Born in Wheatland, Hohnholt’s Wyoming roots go back to time on a ranch outside of Guernsey until second grade.
His family moved to Casper until he was in sixth grade and then to Washington state.
Hohnholt said he returned to Wyoming every summer to work on his grandfather’s ranch.
Hohnholt said his war experiences left him with PTSD and definitely changed him.
He has struggled with depression, anxiety and stress. He likes to socialize and has friends, but avoids crowds and busy places.
He also finds there are times he just needs to be alone.
'Shock And Awe Stuff'
While serving in Iraq, Hohnholt’s security role for convoys involved protecting their fuel, water, and supplies for a helicopter squadron at forward bases as well as other convoy missions.
“We saw a light amount of combat, and it was pretty much during convoy operations,” he said. “It’s not like we were staying and having big battles. But it was moving gear and stuff like that.”
After Iraq, he spent a year serving in his career field doing generator and electrical repair before getting out of the service.
Hohnholt looks back on his Marine Corps service with no regrets, and while he does not like to dwell on specifics about incidents that led to his disability, he said they can be put into the category of “shock-and-awe stuff.”
Hohnholt left the Marines with an honorable discharge and campaign ribbons. He sees his younger self as a “just an average Marine doing average things who fought in a war.”
But if called upon, there is no hesitation about whether he would raise his hand to take the oath of service again.
“You know, absolutely I would,” he said. “It’s the good and the bad that has made me who I am. I have a lot of family and friends and people seem to like me. That’s just good enough for me.”
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
