MESQUITE, Texas — Maria Emery served her country with honor and distinction for 28 years in the Army, retiring as a lieutenant colonel. 

 

She grew up in Santa Ana, Calif., did her basic training in ROTC and was commissioned at the New Mexico Military Institute.

 

"It was different. I learned about NMMI through a friend that went to my high school," she remembered. "It was a very structured, disciplined atmosphere ... being away from home was difficult also."

 

Her first assignment would take her to the G-2 40th Infantry Division in the California National Guard. Lt. Col. Emery would be deployed twice — in the Green Zone in Iraq from 2004-05 and in Bagram, Afghanistan, in 2009-10). 

 

She recalled her first deployment: "It was really hard to be away from my kids and husband. It was the hardest thing I've ever done. I was in Military Intelligence and was assigned to a Civil Affairs Unit."

 

How did she take to being away for the holidays? "They were extremely awkward," she said. "Some people wanted to decorate. We bought decorations in local stores, we had the funkiest Christmas decorations ...

 

"It was so nice to get stuff from home ... the whole atmosphere was kind of surreal."

 

What was the entertainment like? "We had a few people come through, we had movies and listened to music — we had access to all kinds of music," she recalled.

 

Emery shared this story: "We were in our hooches and got word that the enemy was trying to climb the fences surrounding our base. I got my soldiers together and were walking fast to a more secure building. There was some panic beginning to set in with other soldiers, I actually thought that I might get shot by one of our own soldiers."

 

When I asked her what it's like to lose a soldier, she paused for 8-10 seconds and became very emotional. 

 

"It's extremely hard to lose a soldier ... the other difficult part is watching everyone else," she said, her voice choked with emotion. 

 

I asked her to share something positive that stood out during her service and she offered this: "I really liked watching the students in ROTC," she said. "To watch our military students graduate, to see that transformation from when they first came in was awesome. To spend that time with them was the coolest thing — training them, converting them, it's so satisfying because they're ready to go and serve."

 

Her thoughts on service to her country? 

 

"My family were immigrants. I was the first one in my family to serve," she said. "I always felt that someone had to pay back to the government for taking care of us. At times you don't always feel appreciated but it was my honor to serve."

 

Lt. Col. Maria Emery, thank you for your service to our great country.

 

Wayne Soares is the host of the popular, new veterans cooking show, "The Mess Hall" and entertains our troops around the globe. He is also the host and producer of the Vietnam veterans documentary "Silent Dignity – The Chapter That Never Ends." He can be reached at waynesoares1@gmail.com.