Sherry Melville, an Atlanta native, receives a COVID-19 vaccine from her son, U.S. Army Sgt. Don Melville, a combat medic assigned to 703rd Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Georgia, at the Community Vaccination Center in Atlanta, April 21, 2021. U.S. Northern Command, through U.S. Army North, remains committed to providing continued, flexible Department of Defense support to the Federal Emergency Management Agency as part of the whole-of-government response to COVID-19. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Daniel Thompson/50th Public Affairs Detachment)

Atlanta– Abraham Lincoln once said, “All that I am, or all that I hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.”

For U.S. Army Sgt. Don Melville, a combat medic assigned to 3rd Infantry Division, when this rare opportunity arose for him to take care of his mom, as she had always done for him, he had to take it.

“This mission has a special place in my heart. Being from Atlanta and a former school teacher here, I’ve always had a sense of community service and wanted to give back to this area,” said Melville. “Now, I’m in the U.S. Army and serving the community that I come from, taking care of the people that live in the place I call home - it’s a great feeling.”

Several service members that made up the vaccination support team deployed from Fort Stewart, Georgia in early March to assist in the whole-of-government COVID response, one of those members was Melville, an Atlanta native.

As the Atlanta Community Vaccination Center personnel tirelessly worked to vaccinate the public, Melville performed an innumerable amount of vaccinations. Though each service seems special, one recent vaccination stood above all the others. Melville was able to vaccinate his mother, Sherry Melville.

“I was thrilled and beyond honored to have him vaccinate me,” said Sherry tearfully. “He’s always been such a good son, and I’m so proud of him.”

Sherry said that both she and her husband were bed-ridden by COVID in December 2020 and only recently has she regained her strength.

U.S. Army Sgt. Don Melville, a combat medic assigned to 703rd Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Georgia, stands with his mother, Sherry Melville, an Atlanta native, after she received her COVID vaccination from her son at the Community Vaccination Center in Atlanta, April 21, 2021. U.S. Northern Command, through U.S. Army North, remains committed to providing continued, flexible Department of Defense support to the Federal Emergency Management Agency as part of the whole-of-government response to COVID-19. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Daniel Thompson/50th Public Affairs Detachment)

“It means a lot that it was Don [Melville] that gave me the shot,” she said. “My husband and I both had COVID and to think it was my son that was the one who possibly saved me from going through that again means so much more.”

Melville said vaccinating his mother gives him a sense of honor and pride knowing that he’s taking care of his family as well as his community.

“It’s a big sense of satisfaction,” said Melville. “Coming full circle, from my mother taking care of me throughout my life, to her and my dad having COVID, to me being able to take care of her and protect her, and hopefully keep her from ever getting COVID again.”

The Atlanta Community Vaccination Center at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium administered COVID-19 vaccines to community members as part of the state-run, federally-supported response.