SNOHOMISH — Janice Buckley may not have served in the military, but she still knows a thing or two about battle.
As a single mother living on a farm in Snohomish, the images of Sept. 11, 2001, gave her an epiphany, a call to arms to help those serving in the U.S. armed forces.
Buckley started small — baking brownies for the Washington National Guard and sending care packages to deployed sailors, scrounging up donated gift certificates for 155 soldiers returning to Fort Lewis.
By then what had started as a sojourn into volunteerism became something more.
“It’s a fire, a God-given passion. I can’t not do this,” Buckley said. “So in 2004 I got in touch with Operation Homefront. After speaking with the national director, I got permission to start a chapter here in Washington.”
The mission of Operation Homefront is simple: support the troops and help the families they leave behind.
The startup was both a curse and a blessing for Buckley. The curse came in the form of a nearly insurmountable pile of paperwork. The blessing came in the form of learning about U.S. military society. She spent time with military spouses and read “The Company of Heroes” by Michael Durant, on which the movie “Blackhawk Down” was based.
“Now that’s what I do every day — I’m in the company of heroes,” Buckley said.
A typical day is anything but typical for her. She received a call from a Navy wife who had her car die and couldn’t afford to get it repaired. Buckley was able to arrange for Brien Ford in Everett to fix the car at no charge — parts included.
The list of people and organizations that Buckley has enlisted to her cause is extensive. Speedway Chevrolet in Monroe has donated its services. Even the swanky Seattle steak house Metropolitan Grill has hosted dinners for wounded troops.
Even as donations come pouring in, so do the requests for help. The military is, at its heart, a huge bureaucracy. And when there is a snag, Buckley explained, it can take what seems like forever to correct.
“In the civilian world if there is a mistake on our paycheck we can just go to our boss and they’ll take care of it right there,” Buckley said. “But in the military it can take up to six months before that paycheck is corrected. So we help them with food, utility bills — it’s always an emergency.”
That sense of emergency is only amplified when a spouse is deployed overseas. That disconnect makes life especially difficult for those at home when things go awry. Problems such as car trouble, making rent or paying bills become more pronounced when the person you regularly depend on isn’t there to help.
“When servicemen and women leave, they aren’t going to a business trip to New York, they are going to some pretty inhospitable places and these families live each day in limbo,” Buckley said. “They aren’t in a board meeting, they are getting shot at.”
And then there are the wounded.
Buckley has been a regular fixture at the Wounded Transition Battalion at Fort Lewis. Called Taskforce Phoenix, she has played a part in assisting the injured as they recoup from combat and training injuries.
According to Lt. Col. K.C. Bolton, she’s regarded as “a cross between a rock star and Mother Theresa.”
“I can’t describe it better than that,” Bolton said. “Almost every soldier, every staff member knows who she is.”
He likened her efforts to that of air support, as an element that contributes much needed assistance while in battle.
“She’s tireless, I don’t know how she does it. She’s a tireless advocate for soldiers and families,” Bolton said. “They have that same love for her. If someone said something rude about her there would be a soldier in their face. They cherish her as a person.”
Buckley will be spending time at Fort Lewis during Thanksgiving and is currently collecting donations for Operation: Christmas Wish, raising money and donated gifts for military families and the wounded.
When asked if she considers herself as an inspiration to others, Buckley said no.
“I’ve talked to wounded soldiers who can’t wait to get better so they can be back with their friends,” Buckley said. “I’m not an inspiration, they are.”
Reporter Justin Arnold: 425-339-3432 or jarnold@heraldnet.com.
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