Zachary Michael Cole was born in Granbury, TX at 22:36 on September 15, 1981 to Major Andrew Michael and Lucille Elise Cole. The Coles also had two other children at the time of Zach's birth: Keith Andrew and Rebecca Elise. By the time Zach came into the picture, his father had become a recruiter for the U.S. Marines and so young Zach was fortunate in the fact that he didn't have to endure the typical "Army Brat" lifestyle that many military children to.

Being raised with a father, who also happened to be an officer in the United States Marine Corp, Zach learned organization and discipline from an early age. By the time he was three, he was cleaning up after himself before bedtime and by the age of four, not only were his toys all picked up in the evening, they were also put in their rightful place and with military like precision. By the time Zach started kindergarten he was out of bed by five o'clock every morning, made his bed, got himself dressed, and was in the living room and ready to go to the baby-sitters by the time his dad came downstairs. It definitely wasn't a conventional way of growing up, but yet it worked for him. Mostly because he didn't know any other way of being. To this day, his upbringing has left him with a strong sense of discipline as well as making him extremely organized. Some people have actually accused him of having OCD he keeps things so neat and tidy, but he just cheerfully informs them that it's the military ethics ingrained in him from childhood.

By the time Zach got to high school, he was already well on the way to following the path laid out for him. When most kids were applying to colleges and trying to decide what major they were going to pursue, Zach already knew exactly what life after high school had in store for him. In some families, everyone goes off to be a doctor. In other families, they all go to law school. In the Cole family, if you are over 18 and male then you damned well better be in some branch of the military or other. Otherwise, you were out on your own. They were middle class, which means college tuitions weren't easy to come by. So, military it was. His Dad is a Marine. Grandpa was in the Army. His brother is in the Army. Him...he decided to be the odd one out and joined the Air Force. Two weeks after high school graduation, and the tender age of 18, Zach left to head off to boot camp.

In September of 2002, Zach found himself stationed at Luke Air Force Base in Glendale, Arizona. While he was stationed there he met a local girl, Ashley, who captured his attention and then captured his heart. The two of them dated for two and half years when Zach finally got the nerve to propose. In typical female fashion, she had teared up and been speechless at first, leaving Zach to wonder if she was going to reject him, before finally letting out a gleeful "YES!”. The two of them immediately began planning a wedding for following summer. Unfortunately, fate threw two wrenches into their plans. Early in December of 2005 Zach received orders that he was deploying the following July. Rather than try to push up the wedding, Zach and Ashley decided they would push it back one year to the fall of 2007, after he returned home. Then, only three days later, Ashley found out that she was pregnant. Their daughter, Dusty Rose, was born on July 4th of 2006 and on the 15, Zach tearfully kissed his fiancée and newborn daughter goodbye as he left for his deployment.

At first, after he was deployed, things seemed to be going well. Ashley would email daily, Zach would call every other day, and letters would come at least two or three times a week. Then, communication started to dwindle. The emails came less frequently, she wouldn't answer as often when he called and when she did she was distant, the handwritten letters all but stopped. Zach knew in his heart what was coming, but he lived in a world of denial and wouldn't allow himself to believe it. Then, when he came home, it hit him like a ton of bricks. Ashley handed Zach back her engagement ring and told him that she didn't think she was ready to be a military wife. She walked out of him and their daughter, and he hasn't heard from her since that day.

With his life in shambles and a one-year-old baby that barely knew him to take care of, Zach didn’t know what to do or where to turn. He still had two years left in is military contract and now found himself in the position of being a single father. After spending a lot of time talking to his C.O. to find out what his options were, the decision that was finally reached was that he would go on inactive reserve status in order to fulfill the last two years of his contract and then he would leave the military. It was the hardest decision he ever had to make in his life, nobody in his family had ever left the military without RETIRING from the military, but Zach had to do what was best for his daughter. He had been given training as an EMT in the Air Force, and following his return to civilian life he had continued on that path, going back to school to become a paramedic.

Zach lives the military lifestyle, but his organization and discipline aren't all there is to him. Once you get to know him, you find out that he is a fun loving, easy going, good natured kind of guy. Growing up the baby of the family wasn't always all it's cracked up to be. He got spoiled rotten and all, but....Keith and Becky had already done everything and tried getting away with it. By the time Zach got old enough to try and get away with things, his parents already knew all of the tricks so it made it extremely difficult for me to get away with, well, anything. That's not to say he didn't try, and actually succeed from time to time. He just had to get a little bit more creative. So, while his parents thought that he was the angel of the family...he was out getting into just as much trouble as Keith and Becky had. The difference was that he kept the 'good little boy' exterior. Keeping his grades up, and never getting caught doing whatever it was he wasn't supposed to do.

Making friends is easy for him, mostly because growing up around the military and being in it yourself, you often find yourself in situations where you need to interact with new people. He'll talk to just about anyone, and once he's friends with you you're his friend for life and he's got your back anytime you need it.