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Q&A with Mrs. Mary Jo Myers
​Pathway to Public Service
WINTER 2016
Mary Jo Myers is a founding member of ThanksUSA’s Advisory Council. She is an educator with an extensive background in public service as a champion for military, education, and humanitarian causes. She has been a military spouse for more than 40 years, married to General Richard B. Myers, USAF (Ret). 

​Q: You’ve spent more than four decades helping military families. What are their biggest challenges?  
The world situation today, with our nation at war for longer than any other time in our history, brings different challenges and stresses to our military and their families than those incurred during WWII. I’m certainly not saying that the WWII deployments that lasted until surrender were easier than today, but the disruptions to family life caused by the “churn” of multiple deployments bring issues of readjustments to family dynamics and perhaps reassignments to new locales. It is especially difficult for children to adjust to these ongoing changes in their lives and the uncertainty they experience when a parent is deployed. 

Q: How best can Americans say “thank you” to our service men and women, their spouses, and their children? 
Americans can best show their thanks by helping to integrate service families into their communities by offering jobs to spouses and veterans, showing appreciation for their service, and being inclusive in community organizations. And, of course, help with scholarships for education is a life changing way of saying “thanks”! Yes, sacrifices are made by all family members when one serves in the military, but they don’t want anyone to feel sorry for them. They’re proud of volunteering to serve their country, and there’s no better way to thank them and honor that service than with a welcoming hand. 

Q: You’ve been a ThanksUSA Advisory Council member almost since the launch of the charity more than 10 years ago. What attracted you to ThanksUSA?
I first met the Okun family when they were exploring what they might do to support military families after getting to know the Ward family in their neighborhood. Rachel and Kelsi Okun, only 8 and 10 at the time, were interested in education and wanted that to be their focus. I was impressed and attracted by the genuine commitment and compassion of this family who had no direct connection to the military. I appreciated that their parents helped facilitate this effort, but followed the girls’ initiative. Their success and tenacity have gone beyond what any of us might have hoped for 10 years ago!

Q: What inspired you to focus on the educational paths of the children and spouses of our military? 
My background was in education, and I’ve taught English in secondary schools as well as to non-English speakers both in the U.S. and abroad. I believe that learning is a lifetime pursuit, and my grandchildren know that I don’t pass up many teachable moments! Education opens doors to new opportunities, but it also becomes a path of necessity. With many injured service men and women undergoing months and years of recovery from injuries sustained in battle, the spouse may become the primary wage earner in the family.

Education can be the key to supporting a family as well as a more fulfilling future. 

Q: Tell us about raising your own family—two daughters and a son—as a military spouse who traveled around the world with her Air Force husband. How did it work for both of you as parents? 
Military families incur challenges from frequent moves, but that also helps bind the family into a stronger unit, more dependent on each other. My children became best friends following a move—until they made new friends at school. As most every military spouse knows, you often have to act as a single parent. With toddlers testing patience or teenagers testing boundaries, it’s a challenge! With family members usually far away, other military spouses become your support system. Those wearing the uniform count on each other in life and death situations, and those bonds carry over to family members.  

Q: Your husband became Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff one month after the World Trade Center attacks of 9/11, helping to shape the War on Terror. How would you describe those years? 
The past decade has given me some distance from the intensity of those years, but I remember the responsibility and the incredible honor we felt we had to represent the men and women in uniform and their families. We were awed by their dedication, resolve, bravery, and commitment to their country. It was a stressful and uncertain time, but being united in the same cause helped us to keep each other strong. There are not many jobs where husband and wife work with the same people and travel together for business. We each had our own agenda, but we were focused on the same things: ensuring support for our military families during war time and representing our military abroad to the best of our ability.