Jen Buckley helped launch the Plymouth Township Veterans Commission in 2023 because she wanted her community to acknowledge the brave men and women who have proudly served in the U.S. military. Her devotion and commitment to the organization came from the heart and a real understanding of what it means to sacrifice for our country.

“I moved to Michigan with my three children from Ft. Irwin, California, after my first husband, Capt. Jay Harting (West Point Class of ‘98) was killed in action in the Iraq War in 2005,” Buckley said. “In 2010, I remarried a marine and moved to Quantico, Virginia, where we expanded our family by five more to eight total.”

In 2016, the Buckleys moved to Plymouth because of the community.

“We believed it would be the best place to raise our eight children,” she said. “We also felt the community to be very supportive to us in our family’s unique and combined veteran status.”

Buckley is an Air Force veteran who served on active duty for over three years and five years with the Tennessee Air National Guard. Her husband, Brian Buckley, is a former major in the United States Marine Corps Reserves. And their oldest son now serves in the Marine Corps as an LAAD Gunner stationed in Camp Pendleton, California.

After Buckley was voted in to trustee, due to a vacancy, she felt strongly the need to uplift and show appreciation to the area’s service members and veterans.

“I conceived the Veterans Commission back in Spring of 2023,” she said. “Over the summer, we developed an ordinance for the township and voted it in to law in August 2023.”

The Plymouth Township Veterans Commission is made up of nine appointed members serving in staggering terms of one, two, and three years, respectively. You do not need to be a veteran to serve on the commission. Buckley was appointed as the organizing and acting chairwoman of the commission by Supervisor Heise due to her initiative in conceptualizing and spearheading the commission.

The other eight members are an amazing group of veterans with varied backgrounds serving in the military. They are Jackie Lyssotis, Krista McKinley, David Tanana, Mike Richardson, Ron King, John Lockwood, Kirk Kohn and John Roberts.

“The purpose of the commission is to increase visibility of veterans and veterans’ issues within the community and help to bring information on available services to veterans and assist in their advocacy,” Buckley said. “And finally, promote and honor their service through community events. As a commission our goals for this first year include organizing a major sporting event to rally the community behind our hard-working service members, past and present, who have put their lives on the line for our freedoms.”

The Veterans Commission’s first veterans sporting event will be May 18 (Armed Forces Day) and will include a 5K Ruck March from Plymouth Township Park (McClumpha) to the VFW. For more information, log onto the group’s Facebook page.