Stepdad Refurbishes Military Boots For Police Grad Stepson

A soldier who wore his favorite boots on deployments and hundreds of formations until they fell apart secretly refurbished them for his stepson to wear at his police graduation. Jay Hilton, 46, from Ruston, Louisiana, enlisted in the United States Army National Guard in May 2000, before going full time in 2006, and serving multiple deployments to the Middle East. Throughout this journey, a pair of trusty boots he purchased in 2001 had been on his feet – wearing them until the sole separated from the leather. When he had to buy new boots he couldn't bear throwing the first pair out, so he put them in an old ruck sack and stored them in a locker. So years later, when his stepson, Garrett Madden, 24, was about to fulfil his dream of graduating and becoming a law enforcement officer, Jay wanted to step up. One day at the dinner table, Garrett mentioned he would be getting his dress uniform, and asked Jay if he had any boots he could borrow. It was at this point Jay said, "I might have an old pair of boots somewhere," knowing full well the significance of the pair he had in mind. For the next two weeks, Jay worked on repairing the boots, in a process that wife Charlette captured on video.

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