(All our Veterans have different backgrounds, different lives and different stories. The one thing that they have in common is their service to our country. Some served 2 years, some 4, while others made a career of the military. Many Veterans saw battle or supported battle troops; others spent a good deal of their service in one place. There are Veterans from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, National Guard and now, the Space Force).

Jackie Benham grew up on a dairy farm in Indiana with the desire to get an education and to travel. In 1972 when an Army recruiter told her that she could get a free education and travel if she would join the Army, she did not hesitate. The Women's Army Corps (WAC) was the women's branch of the United States Army and was completely separate from the men at that time. Women could not carry weapons, fight in combat or hold any combat related positions and did not train on weapons. By the end of World War II, approximately 150,000 women had served, working as switchboard operators, mechanics, and medical technicians. The WAC was officially disbanded in 1978, when women were fully integrated into the regular Army.

The Army sent Jackie to the Defense Language Institute in Monterey CA and trained her to be a Russian Linguist in the Army Security Agency (later INSCOMM - Intelligence and Security Command). She was sent to many bases, including ones in Turkey, Japan, and Berlin (back when there was a wall between East and West Berlin). Travel while in Berlin was very limited for Americans and long-distance transportation was on Military “duty” trains…long rides with blackout curtains through East Germany. In Japan she came to appreciate Hot Springs and Sumo Wrestling.

Jackie volunteered for the Vietnam Conflict, but by 1972 it was winding down, and the military was focusing more on the Russians and the Chinese. She states that one of her most surprising accomplishments was graduating from the Eight Army Wightman Non-Commissioned Officer’s (NCO) Academy in Camp Jackson, South Korea. As a result, she earned the rank of Staff Sergeant. She tells young people - you never know what you can do until you try. With an interest in nursing school, but unable to apply for the Army’s nursing program at Walter Reed Army Hospital, at the end of her 4-year commitment to the Army, Jackie decided to re-up for another 4 years and enrolled in classes at the University of Maryland. This University has a contract with the military and offers classes all over the world. Her studies there resulted in a degree in Business Administration.

She was in Berlin when the second enlistment was up. Staying there for awhile seemed like a good idea and Jackie lived with missionaries, volunteering as a teacher’s assistant in a Christian grade school. From there, she continued volunteering with missionaries doing whatever needed to be done in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Lichtenstein, ending in a conference in Bavaria. From there she returned to the US and was asked by her taxi driver if she would marry him so he could become a US citizen. She declined the offer but is often reminded of how precious her citizenship is.

Looking for a small Christian nursing school that would accept the GI Bill, she chose Hesston College, a Mennonite school in Hesston KS where she graduated from the 2-year Registered Nurse (RN) program. After obtaining her license she remained in Kansas working primarily on medical-surgical (med-surg) floors. A med-surg nurse cares for patients with acute or chronic illnesses, or those preparing for and recovering from surgery. Often considered the "backbone" of hospitals, they possess highly versatile clinical skills to manage diverse patient needs. Jackie was not finished with her education yet and later took some online courses at Jacksonville University to earn her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN).

Emil von Behring (1854–1917) was a groundbreaking German physiologist and the winner of the very first Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1901. He is widely celebrated as the father of serum therapy and a pioneer in immunology. Behring revolutionized the treatment of diphtheria, a major cause of child mortality in the 19th century, and developed a treatment for tetanus. His company merged with the Australian company Commonwealth Serum Laboratories (CSL) and became CSL Behring. CSL Behring is a global biotherapeutics leader.

Jackie started working for CSL Behring in Springfield, OH, 39 years ago. As part of her job, she was sent to labs in various parts of the country. One project sent her to Knoxville, where she still works in Documentation and Training in a lab. Her hunt for a quiet place to live and a place where her truck-driver husband could turn his truck around led her to Maynardville, where she has lived for the past 20 years. She is a member of Miller’s Chapel United Methodist Church.

She recently joined American Legion Post 212 and has been accepted as a member of the Tri-County Honor Guard. She desires to serve and honor fellow veterans as a memorial to her friend, a US Marine Corps Staff Sergeant who survived Viet Nam but died in a diving accident in Big Sur, CA in 1973. She believes he went to heaven laughing about the absurdity of it.
Our Veterans come from all walks of life, with different backgrounds and experiences. We thank them for all they have done in support of our country.

Wonderful to meet you, Jackie Benham! Thank you for serving.