Muriel Watkins, as an Army Reservist
Our ReServists have given back to their community and country in more ways than one. On Veterans Day, we are honoring our ReServists who have served their country through the military by highlighing a few of them. Today we feature Muriel Watkins, a ReServist working at the Department of Corrections.
Muriel Watkins
“When I was young, I was always interested in the military,” said Muriel Watkins, a ReServist. She enrolled in the U.S. Army Reserve in 1979, and provided over 20 years of service as licensed practical nurse for the 340th Military Police Unit. “I worked at Walter Reed [Army Medical Center]. I attended the University of Delaware to receive my LPN, and then went on to nursing training at Fort Sam Houston.”
She was in the reserves during Operation Desert Storm. “The war was quite scary and stressful a lot of times. Many who were deployed didn’t think they would come home alive.” As a healthcare provider, she saw many patients with injuries from land mines. They were mostly young men. “There weren’t as many women in the military back then. I guess now there are more of us because of the job market.”
Muriel credits her military service with helping her become the person she is today. “Being in the military made me want to continue giving back.” She joined an organization that helped military veterans. She feels that this country could do more to help this new generation of veterans to avoid what happened to the veterans during the Vietnam War. “A lot of those soldiers [from Vietnam] are homeless now, but I think we learned our lesson. I don’t think it’s going to be that bad. I don’t think our country’s going to do that again.”
She believes that having more veterans involved in some kind of public service makes a difference, especially since some politicians who decide on veteran policy haven’t served in the military. “They can’t appreciate what it’s like to have veterans benefits.”
While she was in the reserves, she worked at the NYC Department of Social Services for thirty years. “I did administrative support for social work in my civilian life,” she said. While at Social Services, she saw many changes throughout her time. The crack epidemic in New York City during the 80s was particularly tragic for her. “While I didn’t work with clients directly, there was a ripple effect in the entire department.” That period also saw an unemployment crisis.
In 2003, she retired from the Army Reserve with an Honorable Discharge. Muriel has three adult children, four grandchildren and one great grandchild. Even with a big family, and being a ReServist, she enjoys keeping busy. She likes going to the gym, playing raquetball and working part-time.
“I don’t want to spend my time sitting at home, and I’m not a television person, although I do enjoy going to the theater.” Through RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Program), she is a volunteer at Traveler’s Aid at John F. Kennedy International Airport. “I really enjoy that a lot,” she says. “I help a lot of stranded passengers, people who don’t speak a lot of English, people who need money.”
As a ReServist, her first placement was at Queens Hospital. Now she works for the Department of Corrections’s administrative offices at LaGuardia Airport where she helps with physicals for potential candidates for corrections officers who have passed their written tests. “It’s similar to a military environment,” she says. “People who are in uniform or are about to be have many similar ways of doing things, looking at things.”
Whether its volunteering through RSVP or serving her community through ReServe, Muriel says any kind of of service is an excellent opportunity. “It helps you keep your skills up, keeps you moving and keeps disease a way, plus it’s an opportunity to meet new people,” she said
