Kyndra Miller could
have been a model for Norman Rockwell, if she’d been born a
quarter century earlier and in Stockbridge, Massachusetts
instead of Wyoming. I mention this right off the back because
she is very bright – as in gracious and out-going – and pretty.
She’s also very bright in terms of intelligence, which also
becomes apparent almost immediately.
He father worked in the energy business; her mother was a
teacher. Kyndra and her sister were brought up to appreciate
hard work and strong character. They put themselves through
college. Her sister because one of top people in the prison
system in Wyoming. Kyndra put herself through law school.
She joined the Army reserves and trained to become a JAG
officer. She was assigned to Walter Reed Army Hospital where
much of her time was spent making sure that members of the
military and their families were treated properly and fairly.
Often she had to struggle against an entrenched and myopic
bureaucracy, just to make sure that family members got to see
their loved ones, grievously wounded in Iraq.
Kyndra wanted to be more active in supporting the war effort and
asked to be assigned duty in Guantanamo. In order to qualify,
she had to go through grueling combat training. Kyndra led her
unit on a simulated rescue mission of a downed flyer. She found
the “flyer” – a 180-pound dummy – whom she carried down a flight
of stairs, and then, with help from others in her unit, brought
the flyer to safety. Under her leadership, the unit earned a
coveted award.
Kyndra worked at Guantanamo protecting prisoners’ rights. When
she was mustered out, she returned home to Wyoming where she
worked for 16 months working for the governor, again making sure
that veterans were getting all they were due from the
government.
Because she still had time left in her reserve commitment, she
was suddenly called up again, and because of her exceptionally
high secret clearance, we was deployed to Guantanamo. Kyndra was
promoted to the rank of Major as quickly as Army regulations
would allow.
Kyndra would later
write a book about her military experiences...Honor
Bound.
While in Guantanamo, she met Ron Rotunda, one of the nation’s
foremost Constitutional scholars who was consulting for the
Department of Defense.
There's no need to dredge up the experiences that led to the
lawsuit. They were scurrilous and are best relegated to the
past.
Let it instead be noted
that what Kyndra wanted to
do was to teach law school students how to best serve the
particular needs of military families. Now she is doing that at
Chapman University. Kyndra is a pioneer in this area,
and her work on behalf of military families will have positive
ramifications for generations to come.