Page 8 - Work Force December_2022

CSEA Capital Region members and their families honored veterans by marching in the Albany Veterans Day Parade. Our union’s delegation poses at the start of the parade route. Front row, from left to right, Town
of Colonie Unit B Treasurer John “Frenchie” Ekmalian, Capital Region Veterans Committee and New York State Teachers Retirement Local member Emily Biers, New York State Teachers Retirement Local member Anne Byerwalters, Capital Region Executive Vice President Shana Davis, Capital Region Veterans Committee member and Town of Colonie Unit B President Bill Alund, Capital Region Secretary Cindy Stiles, Capital Region President Ron Briggs, Albany County Local President Tom Edwards and Capital Region Veterans Committee Co-Chair John Crandell. Back row, from left to right, Capital Region Veterans Committee Co-Chair and Workers Compensation Board Local President Michele Kiuber and Benny Santos, waving flags.
BINGHAMTON — U.S. Army veteran Karen Yeager, who now serves as president of our union’s Binghamton Central School District Custodial and Clerical Unit, recently took
flight on the first-ever, all women veterans’
Twin Tiers
Honor Flight to Washington, D.C.
Honor Flight
is a nonprofit organization
that aims to take
as many military veterans as
possible to see the various memorials and museums in the Washington area at no cost to veterans.
Yeager got the opportunity
to participate on the trip through a friend
“I didn’t expect to be invited on this trip,” said Yeager. “It’s nice
to have good news to share for a change.”
Yeager joined the Army in 1985 and was assigned to an arms room
at Fort Jackson, S.C., with a basic training company.
During her service, it was common to
have few women in military units.
“I got
really good at cleaning any and all military weapons and
putting them back together,”
said Yeager. “I could do it quicker than my
drill sergeant husband, who I met there.”
Shortly after her husband was medically relieved from service, the couple moved to Binghamton and Yeager began working for the Binghamton City School District.
Yeager noted that even though she joined our union when she was hired, she didn’t understand much about unions at first as unions aren’t very prevalent in her home state of Texas.
“I wanted someone to stand up and fight for what’s right,” said Yaegar.
She took on the challenge of being an officer to help fight for fair pay.
“I realized there is a whole lot more work than people thought. If I thought being a mother of three kids was hard, being the president of a 180-person unit equals it,” said Yeager, jokingly.
Twin Tiers Honor Flight Mission 14
Yeager described her flight as overwhelming, exhausting, and most of all, humbling. She had only been to Washington once before, and actually drove through the city on the way to her daughter’s wedding the weekend before the flight. However, she wasn’t able to see everything she got to see
on her Honor Flight.
Yaegar said her favorite part
of the flight was the Tomb of the Unknown Solider. Her group was
able to watch the changing of the guard and some were able to lay a wreath on the tomb. A visit to the U.S. Army Women’s Museum was also a highlight.
“I don’t think any of us really felt like we deserved the trip until we were all together and understood just how life was when we served,” said Yeager.
Yeager encourages all veterans to search their local Honor Flight and take the trip.
“It’s something that no one should pass up,” said Yeager.
— Nicholas Newcomb
To learn more about Honor Flight, visit www.honorflight.org.
Broome County Developmental Center Local President Kelly Otis, in red shirt, shares a laugh with Central Region members marching in the Syracuse Veterans Day Parade.
CSEA veteran honored with ‘trip of a lifetime’
8 The Work Force
December 2022