My Side of the Story – Why I Declined the Position of Branch County Veteran’s Service Officer

I don’t usually use this platform to talk about my personal life, but I feel as though I need to speak about the saga I went through and why I decided to decline the Veteran’s Service Officer position.

In early September, my father told me he was considering retirement and wanted to know if I would consider applying for the position of Veteran’s Service Officer. I was unsure of applying. I had been a stay-at-home mother and housewife for the last six years, and I did not know if I was ready to change my children’s routines and create a new normal for them. After talking with my husband and parents, we made a plan. I would apply for the position, and my parents would take care of my younger child. The older one is in school. This would have been physically demanding for them. My two-year-old is forty pounds of climbing fury and currently being tested for autism, since he’s nonverbal. I felt comfortable applying for the position because I knew my children would be taken care of, and I could focus on the job. I was excited by the possibilities.

Both of my parents served in the US Army: Mom for five years on active duty and Dad for thirteen years on active duty, and I wanted to be like them and joined the Army in 2007, after receiving my BA from Northern Illinois University. But fate had other plans and I was discharged after forty-five days. The highest-ranking drill sergeant at basic would not allow me to qualify with a weapon. I went through the gas chamber though, so that’s something.

This part of my life isn’t something I like to discuss. My whole world was shattered; all of my plans were gone. I then went back to school to get my teaching certificate, but halfway through that semester, on February 14, 2008, a gunman shot Cole Hall on the NIU campus. Five students and the gunman died that day, and I still have nightmares from the sight of bleeding students leaving Cole Hall.

I still wanted to serve my country, so I joined the Peace Corps and served in Bulgaria for 27 months as an EFL teacher. After my time in Bulgaria was over, I then worked as an ESL teacher in China. I came back to the United States and worked as a volunteer and finance coordinator for a congressional campaign. I substitute taught and did freelance writing work as well.

I married in 2017 and had my eldest in 2018. We decided I should stay home because where we lived, daycare was $1,400 per week, and there was no way I would work for daycare.

So back to the story. I applied for the position of Veteran’s service officer in the same manner as anyone else: submit application, sent in qualifying documents including full university transcripts and my DD-214. My mother was completely removed from the interview process, so nobody could cry “nepotism”. (That didn’t work.)

The first interview was with Bud Norman, the second interview was with the Veterans’ board, and the third interview was with the County commissioners. After the third interview, Whitney Lewis was announced to have been voted on by the County commissioners, but that the Veterans’ Board had the final say due to state law. I was confused because my dad told me he was hired by the County commissioners.

Turns out there was a 1953 Michigan state law that says that the Veteran’s service officer must be chosen by the Veteran’s board. Bud read this RIGHT BEFORE the board of commissioners’ meeting and did not tell them. After a weekend of the county commissioners trying to manipulate the Veteran’s board to vote Mrs. Lewis as the Veteran’s service officer, the Veteran’s board voted me in.

I was thrilled. I wanted to do so many new programs to help veterans, and with the contacts I have from being a part of the Veteran’s community and knowing many of these people since I was seventeen, I was thrilled to help these people. The board knew I would give the county twenty years of my life and make sure the veterans were taken care of.

But then the harassment started. The cries of nepotism and being told I am not qualified for the job. But the harassment wasn’t just towards me, it was towards my mother and father. I truly believe these people do not care about Veterans and only care about themselves. The Veterans office isn’t a job for my family. Taking care of and making sure the Veterans are looked after is a calling, and not just a job.

I decided not to take the job because the Veterans’ office doesn’t need any controversy. The Veterans deserve to be taken care of and not deal with the gossip. So I called and emailed Bud Norman and told him my decision, and that is where my place in the story ends.

Weirdly, Bud posted the Veteran’s service officer position without my father’s retirement paperwork filled out. He is keeping his job for the next year or two. I don’t know if I would re-apply under the new county commissioner in a few years (Bud Norman is retiring in December). But my kids are happy that they have me full time, and I have offered to help my father digitize the office, but he has said no, since he doesn’t want to create any controversy.

I am happy. I have my husband and my boys. I have everything I could ever want. I am now looking for something to stimulate my brain and help my community. I’ll find it eventually.