Rosemarie Lane takes office as the first female state VFW commander in New England.
LISBON – If the good old boys tried to stop Rosemarie Lane, she didn’t notice.
By the time she joined the Veterans of Foreign Wars in 1992, she had spent 23 years in the Army. She had served in Vietnam. And she was a former drill instructor.
If a few guys ignored her, so what.
“I think I was being tested,” Lane said. “I didn’t see any open arms when I joined.”
In the early 1990s, posts still had a reputation as cocktail lounges for local vets. She stuck around anyway.
“I think I earned their respect,” she said.
Eleven years later, Lane has held almost every senior job among Maine’s veterans of foreign wars. She commanded her post and her district. And in June, she became Maine’s commander.
Her election marked the first state command in New England by a woman. Lane hopes it’s the first of many.
“I’m hoping this is a sign to other women,” she said “Women have a right to belong and lead.”
Of course, few women have been able to join until recently.
Unlike the American Legion, which accepts all veterans, members of the VFW must have served in a war in a foreign country.
The numbers have increased in recent years. At the post in Lisbon, Raymond J. Levigne VFW Post 9459, there are several women members. Women played a substantial role in Desert Storm and have been integral in Bosnia, Afghanistan and the current Iraqi conflict.
Lane’s eligibility comes from her time in Vietnam. She was there for nearly a year, serving as an administrator among the staff in Saigon. When the United States packed up and left in 1973, she shipped out.
After that, Lane served at bases around the country and in Germany. The Brooklyn native retired to Maine in 1986. “I didn’t want to go back to a big city anymore,” she said.
She followed a friend here and began working in an office. She currently works for the Internal Revenue Service in Lewiston.
The remainder of her time is spent on the VFW.
Lane, 58, figures her biggest challenge is getting people to join the organization. Her post has 336 members. Statewide, the total is about 14,000.
Few people take part in the day-to-day activities, though. To get people more involved, the VFW is trying to change its reputation. There is more focus on family events, during which smoking is banned in the halls.
And the group is trying to better educate veterans on the things it has always done to fight for benefits and aid people through the VA system.
Lane hopes to use her job and her special place as a female state commander, one of four or five in the country, to bring more attention to her goals.
At the end of August, she’ll be part of a national meeting in San Antonio, Texas. Next year, she will also be part of a meeting in Washington.
In between she’ll be watching for more women to come up, she said. Currently, only one town in Maine, Winslow, has a woman commander, she said.
So far, Lane has appreciated the attention. When she went to New Hampshire to its state meeting, she drew a standing ovation, she said.
“Because I went, I was treated like the queen of Sheba,” she said.
dhartill@sunjournal.com
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