2005 Military Women of Merit - Mary Ann Hillery
By: North County Times -
Fallbrook resident Mary Ann Hillery stands out in a crowd. It's the vivid red, white and blue stars and stripes stitched on her cowboy boots that give her away.
Combine her footwear with rhinestone-rimmed sunglasses and flag earrings, and she really gets your attention.
Mary Ann's flamboyantly patriotic couture helps get her message out to everyone she meets ‹ support our military and our troops.
Mary Ann has been married to retired U.S. Marine Col. Bob Hillery since 1970, and for more than three decades she has been one of the most enthusiastic advocates of the Marine Corps.
Originally based in Quantico, Va., the couple moved 17 times before ending up at Marine Base Camp Pendleton. Col. Hillery was chief of staff of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force when he retired in 2004.
The couple have three grown children: daughter Julie, who is a general contractor in Fort Myers, Florida; son Rob, a Marine 1st lieutenant who will leave on his second deployment to Iraq in September; and daughter Heather, who is married to Marine Lt. Col. James Hanlon. Lt. Col. Hanlon returned from Iraq in 2003 and is scheduled to deploy again in February, 2006.
Because Mary Ann knows firsthand what it's like to have loved ones in dangerous areas, she is able to comfort countless other families in similar situations. She knows the anxiety caused by "every call, CNN report and newspaper article."
Life changed suddenly for Mary Ann when Bob was deployed to Saudi Arabia in 1991 during the Gulf War. Being the wife of a Marine in peacetime is very different from being one during a military conflict or war.
Living near the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz., Mary Ann learned how much she needed the support she received from her peers and the Marine community.
When her son-in-law left for Iraq in 2003, Mary Ann said that it was a "really big turning point" for her. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, she witnessed the urgent need to support families of Marines fallen or injured in combat.
She rallied volunteers to visit the wounded at the Naval Hospital on Camp Pendleton. The visitors were touched at how much a few minutes of their time could mean to the young men and women who returned from the war zone.
In addition to being actively involved for years with the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, Toys for Tots, and Operation Homefront, Mary Ann became a local ambassador for Operation Interdependence, the nationwide organization that helps troops and their families without impacting military resources.
"OI" volunteers boost troop morale by sending care packages overseas. The boxes contain nonperishable food, hygiene items, letters and pre-paid phone cards, which are like gold in places like Iraq.
Nearly 1,500 boxes have been sent from the Oceanside Operation Interdependence effort this year.
Mary Ann encourages people to go to www.oidelivers.org for information. She also suggests going to www.semperfifund.org to help wounded veterans.
Another way to help is to write. Getting letters from strangers, whether kids or seniors, is a treasure, she said. It doesn't matter if they don't know you. Just hearing from another American while in a lonely place can be so comforting, she said.
People can also be part of the welcoming committee at Camp Pendleton when troops arrive home. Many don't have family waiting for them and your smile can absolutely make their day, she says.
Mary Ann never seems to slow down. If she's not giving speeches, raising funds, or packing boxes for Operation Interdependence, she's making six gallons of chili for the local cook-off, or volunteering at the St. Vincent de Paul thrift store in Fallbrook.
When asked what advice she would give to young people, she said, "If you can do something for someone else, that's the answer. When you give of yourself, that's the reward."