Veteran Spotlight

"Veteran Spotlight" is Senator Murkowski's monthly focus on an Alaska veteran of the nation's conflicts worldwide, to honor and draw well-deserved attention to Alaska's men and women who served.

November - Vanessa Meade

During the First Gulf War, Vanessa Meade was a military police officer in Iraq, charged with transporting potentially-dangerous prisoners of war – frequently finding herself on the front lines of Operation Desert Storm.  During her Veteran Spotlight interview, Meade recalls that her prisoners often didn’t realize she was a woman until she spoke to them.  She also remembers the difficult split she felt between her and other female soldiers because of the need she felt to be “one of the guys” throughout her military career.

“As a woman in the military, especially in a combat-type situation, you want to be seen as one of the guys and you want to fit in.  You go above and beyond to prove yourself and you’re almost pitted against your fellow female soldiers,” said Vanessa Meade.   “It’s an unfortunate reality, and I started the Alaska Veterans Organization for Women to bring women veterans together to share experiences and support one another when once they return to Alaska.”

Vanessa Meade’s Alaska Veterans Organization for Women, or AVOW, was created in 2011 to support women veterans through advocacy, collaboration and empowerment.  AVOW members tackle issues like the guilt associated with women leaving their families to serve, military sexual trauma- which ranges from sexual harassment to rape, and lack of some VA services for women.

“Vanessa’s story highlights the experience of a woman in a world dominated by men, especially as it was in the early 1990s,” said Murkowski.  “She served her nation bravely, then returned home and created the only women-specific veterans support group in Alaska.  We owe it to veterans like Vanessa Meade to share her story and her duty, and we owe it to all Americans to learn from the high levels of patriotism, commitment and service they demonstrated for us.”

October - Earl Wineck

In 1934, before World War II, Wineck’s father headed to the Matanuska-Susitna Valley to make a place for his family.  Two years later, Earl’s mother took the rest of the family to Alaska in a Studebaker to join up with his father and begin farming.

In 1942, Wineck joined the ATG at 15, the earliest age permitted. As an ATG member, he watched the skies over Southcentral Alaska for any signs of Japanese airplanes and helped Valley families conduct several blackout drills during World War II.  As soon as Earl Wineck turned 18 in 1945, he was drafted into the U.S. Army, and was stationed on Adak Island.

During his Veteran Spotlight interview, Wineck recalls the harsh reality of military service on the farthest reaches of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.  Rotten food, isolation, murder and suicide claimed the lives of some of his fellow soldiers. Wineck says he survived due to the unique type of toughness he had acquired living and working as a farmer in the Mat-Su Valley.

September - Holger Jorgensen

Senator Lisa Murkowski today released the Veteran Spotlight of Holger “Jorgy” Jorgensen, an Alaska Territorial Guard member and U.S. Army veteran living in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Jorgy Jorgensen saw his first airplane flying over the Nome area when he was just six, and knew instantly that he wanted to be a pilot.  In 1942, a week after his 15th birthday, Jorgensen volunteered for the Alaska Territorial Guard and worked as a radio operator, monitoring the airwaves for signs of the Japanese during WWII.  A few years later, Jorgensen enlisted in the U.S. Army and was tapped to be in the elite Alaska Scouts.  

Now 85, Jorgensen says the Army shaped his life. “In many ways, the war and military service was one of my life’s greatest fortunes,” said Jorgensen.  “It opened up doors for me, and it was because of the G.I. Bill that I was able to fulfill my childhood dream of becoming a pilot.  Flying was such a big part of my life - until I went blind in 1994.”

During his Veteran Spotlight interview, Jorgensen recalled being a young boy in Nome in the when Alaska Natives were segregated from the White population.  He tells the story of a defiant act in 1944 when he refused to move from the White section of Nome’s movie theater.  Jorgensen’s actions proved to be the spark that ignited equality in the gold rush town.

August - Paul Shirey

In honor of National Airborne Day, Senator Lisa Murkowski is honoring Paul Shirey, an Army infantry veteran living in Eagle River, Alaska who was inspired to join the Army after 9/11 and did tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In a compelling and honest Veteran Spotlight interview, Paul recounts his experiences while serving with the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division based at Fort Richardson.  Paul served in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2004 and served in Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2006 to 2008.  Though he has now been home in Alaska for years, Shirey still struggles with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) every day.

“You have a whole new generation of soldiers who are going to be affected by the things they have seen and done,” said Shirey.  “Any time I have a down day, I think about the fallen, and I think about what they would be doing with their lives right now.  There is not a day that goes by that I do not think about them.  I live my life for them, and it helps me appreciate what I have.”

July - Benno Cleveland

In his Veteran Spotlight interview, Benno talks about volunteering for the U.S. Army in 1968 under the Great Society Choice after running into trouble with the law in Fairbanks.  He served two tours in Dong Tam, Vietnam, earning the Purple Heart before being discharged for medical reasons in 1970.  When he returned home to Alaska, Benno recalls struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and a number of health problems, including feeling like he no longer belonged in the “Real World” outside the Vietnam War zone.

June - Harold Bahr

Harold Bahr began serving in the Alaska Territorial Guard (ATG) in Nome, Alaska during World War II in 1942 when he was just eleven years old.  ATG members were often men and boys too old or young to be drafted, who volunteered to be the first line of defense for Alaska.

In his Veteran Spotlight interview, Harold recalls sitting in his uncle’s attic as a boy in Nome, hoping the Japanese planes flying overhead would get low enough so he could shoot at them.  Harold continued to watch for Japanese ships and planes until 1945.

Harold’s service to the country continued in 1951 when he was only enough to enlist in the US Navy and served on an ammunition ship during the Korean War.