CORTLAND — Lisa Milliron said family influenced her decision to join the military.

“My relatives, my uncles, my cousins, they were somewhere in the service. Some were in the Army, some were in the Air Force, and what stuck for me was when I was 5 years old,” she said.

While visiting her grandparents’ farm, the family was viewing slides on a projector and she saw one that ignited the first spark.

“Elvis was singing to the troops. It was really cool, and I wanted to be a part of that,” she said, in addition to being able to travel and have different experiences.

Milliron joined the Army in 1982 at the age of 19.

“I wanted to be a medic. I was taller then (5’1″), but they wanted me to be a cook because there’s only so many things you can do when you’re short,” she said, noting she eventually served as an Army medic.

Milliron said she attended boot camp at Fort Dix, New Jersey, which she said was a “gravy boot camp” and not as tough as others.

“It was tough enough for me though,” she said.

With a yearning to travel, Milliron finally got the chance on her fourth assignment.

“I was going to be overseas. When they asked me if I would consider going overseas, I said ‘yes.’ So I went to Camp Humphreys in Bad Cannstatt in Stuttgart, Germany,” she said.

In between Germany and having her first child, Milliron moved up from being an associate Emergency Medical Technician to an EMT. One experience in Stuttgart led her to become a nurse once she finished her military career.

“I was in Stuttgart, I worked in a hospital in labor and delivery. I did more nursery work, and I just fell in love (with the babies). I wasn’t a nurse, I was a medic, and they claimed me. I hadn’t been to nursing school yet. I did midnights, and I loved it. One time, I didn’t have any nurses, and there were five women giving birth at once and I needed to help.

“I was scared now, it was loud, but I knew this was going to be my career and this experience would help me in my future career), and I just loved it,” she said. “I was scared, but I just knew this was going to be my calling. I was a Specialist 4, mine was combat medic, then medical specialist, that’s my MOS.”

After being discharged from the military in 1985, Milliron went into the Ohio National Guard. However, after four or five months, she went back into the Army for her second tour. Again, they tried to make her a cook.

“I said ‘stop with the cook nonsense.’ So they had me as a material specialist. I went over to South Korea and spent part of my time in Fort Lee, Virginia. I worked as a material specialist, then they put me in a computer van for 14 hours. I loved Europe, but not Korea,” Milliron said.

She worked for a summer at the General Motors van plant on the motor and axle line, and while she really enjoyed it, she knew it was a temporary position because she still felt drawn to nursing, so she took steps to become a nurse.

“I did home health for a while, and then I left and I worked at Leeda Northeast Inc. I also worked at maintenance at some truck stops for a while (midnight turn),” Milliron said.

Now she enjoys participating in a local writing group, keeping up with exercising and enjoying her family.

Lisa Milliron

AGE: 64

RESIDENCE: Cortland

SERVICE BRANCH: Army

MILITARY HONORS: Army Service medal, Good Conduct medal, and Marksman award

OCCUPATION: Retired nurse

FAMILY: Son, Christopher; daughter, Alicia; and two granddaughters