AUGUSTA — Ann LePage has said she was hesitant to be Maine’s first lady, but Wednesday she again made history — and this time she didn’t have to jump from a “perfectly good airplane.”
LePage spoke during her husband’s inaugural ceremonies, according to event organizers, a first for Maine first ladies. And while she took time to tout her husband, Gov. Paul LePage, Ann LePage kept her message on track.
She spoke to recognize the many who volunteer their time in Maine, but more important, to say thank you to Maine’s large population of military service members and veterans.
“Choosing our military and their families as my cause has been an honor,” she said, as she recalled how she took a parachute jump of faith with Travis Mills in August in Aroostook County.
Mills, an Army staff sergeant who was injured in Afghanistan, is one of only five surviving quadruple amputees from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He now makes his home in Maine and is an adventure athlete and motivational speaker.
The two jumped to raise money for a veterans museum in northern Maine.
“I’m scared to death of heights, but with Travis setting the example with his never-ending dedication to veterans, how could I say no?” Ann LePage recalled. “I must say, however, once is enough. I will do anything for veterans, but I will never again jump from a perfectly good airplane.”
She said Maine — with the seconded-highest per-capita veteran population in the U.S. — owed a debt of gratitude to its veterans.
She said she had met many Maine veterans from wars going back to World War I.
“Each of these men and women and their families deserve our appreciation for their service,” the first lady said. “They sacrificed so much during their service. Not only do they put their lives on the line in foreign lands, they also spend a long time away from their family and friends. They miss important family milestones. They miss weddings; they miss birthdays; they miss holidays.”
She took a moment to note 10 empty seats in the Augusta Civic Center that were decorated with red, white and blue ribbons. The empty seats were for the men and women from Maine who had made the ultimate sacrifice and couldn’t be there, she said.
She spoke of how, since being first lady, she had twice joined the annual Wreaths Across America motorcycle convoy to lay Maine holiday wreaths on the graves of veterans at the National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.
“I’m not sure which Paul likes the least, me jumping out of an airplane or me riding on a bike down to D.C. in December,” Ann LePage said, drawing laughter and applause.
She later said that every veteran who has served “at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check payable to the United States of America for an amount up to and including their life.”
sthistle@sunjournal.com
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