Buford O'Charley's Honors 'Hometown Hero' Sgt. Matthew Sullivan

As part of its reopening celebration, the O’Charley’s Restaurant in Buford honored Marine Sgt. Matthew Sullivan as a “Hometown Hero” Tuesday morning.

O’Charley’s is honoring Hometown Heroes at 43 remodeled stores in the U.S. this year.

According to a press release:

Sullivan joined the Marine Corps on September 12, 2001, a day after the terrorist attacks. In November of that year, he graduated boot camp in Parris Island, South Carolina and became an Infantry Marine in February 2002. Sullivan was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He served multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan from 2003 to 2006, and was involved in the beginning of the first invasion of Iraq in March 2003. During his many deployments, Sullivan served as a Motorman in the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, a Squad Leader, and midway through his enlistment became a Scout Sniper shooter and spotter.

After returning home in 2006, Sullivan attended the University of Virginia – Wise for four years and earned his Bachelor’s in Administration of Justice. He also played football all four seasons while in school. After school, Sullivan joined the reserves and was again deployed in 2012 to the Republic of Georgia as an Infantry Skills and operations Advisor during a NATO mission. Upon his return in 2013, Sullivan was offered a slot as an active duty Marine recruiter in the Buford Marine Corps office, a position he is currently filling.