#VeteranOfTheDay Army Veteran Christine Tron

Born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, in 1958, Christine Tron grew up loving her father’s stories of his Army service in the Philippines. At 18, Tron joined the Army when it was the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) in 1977, completing one of the last cycles of basic combat training before women began serving in the regular Army in 1978. Tron worked her way up to first sergeant in 2000 before retiring after 32 years.

In her first active-duty enlistment, at Fort Hood, Texas, Tron trained as a Polish linguist before applying those skills listening to Polish forces in a two-month tour in West Berlin. She spent most of her career running reserve units in the active guard for the Army Military Intelligence Corps. After working as a support for course writers and then as a senior instructor, she trained in counterintelligence before deploying to Saudi Arabia as an interrogator during Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

Since retiring in 2008, Tron has been active in many Veterans’ initiatives, including within the Polish Legion of American Veterans and the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). She was repeatedly the representative to Soldiers’ Home Chelsea and VFW’s Home for Children, and she was chair of Patriot’s Pen and Voice of Democracy’s youth writing programs. She has additionally served as VA Boston-Jamaica Plain Voluntary Services (VAVS) Representative in Bedford, Massachusetts.

On May 9, 2016, Tron was voted the first female commander to the 95-year-old Fortunato VFW Post 545 after her fellow members decided she was overqualified for the number-three position she intended to run for. She was also chosen as commander of District 10 of the Massachusetts VFW, and has since continued to hold numerous positions within VFW, including national aide-de-camp and state surgeon.

As the only then-current female of a 150-member post, Tron joined the Women’s Veterans Network in Massachusetts and VFW’s nationwide committee of women Veterans dedicated to making VFW a more welcoming place for women.

When interviewed by the Boston Herald about women Veterans, Tron said, “Don’t dismiss us. When a woman joins a Veteran’s organization and they try to steer them into the support roles and never encourage them into leadership positions, that’s the kind of thing I’m trying to change.”

Tron earning Massachusetts’ 2019 Deborah Samson Award—intended to honor women Veterans who work to empower other women Veterans—in addition to the Governor’s citation and state Veterans Voluntary Services volunteer of the year award.

We honor her service.