CORTLAND — Lisa Milliron said family influenced her decision to join the military.

“My relatives, my uncles, my cousins, they were somewhere in the service. Some were in the Army, some were in the Air Force, and what stuck for me was when I was 5 years old,” she said.

While visiting her grandparents’ farm, the family was viewing slides on a projector and she saw one that ignited the first spark.

“Elvis was singing to the troops. It was really cool, and I wanted to be a part of that,” she said, in addition to being able to travel and have different experiences.

Milliron joined the Army in 1982 at the age of 19.

“I wanted to be a medic. I was taller then (5’1″), but they wanted me to be a cook because there’s only so many things you can do when you’re short,” she said, noting she eventu

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