{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=DA671C41-0422-4D4D-992E-458397DF0775", "Boozman Shares Memories of Northwest Arkansas Veteran for Hispanic Heritage Month", "2024-10-11", "2024", "2024-10", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "John Boozman", "B001236", "www.boozman.senate.gov", "boozman", "https://www.boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON\u2014U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) recognized the service and sacrifice of Maddie Willyard in \u2018Salute to Veterans,\u2019 a series highlighting the military service of Arkansans.\n\nWillyard was born in Puerto Rico and moved to Chicago when she was 7 years old. In high school, her family moved to a northern suburb because of safety concerns.\n\nWhile Willyard\u2019s family has a history of military service, her path to wearing our nation\u2019s uniform started as a result of trying to avoid an angry teacher who was upset she did not complete her homework.\n\n\u201cThis voice came over the intercom \u2013 juniors and seniors are excused from classes to take the ASVAB. I didn\u2019t know what the ASVAB was. I just knew it was like manna from heaven and off I went,\u201d she said.\n\nShe quickly learned the exam was the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, an indicator of future success in the miliary.\n\n\u201cI did very well. Got lots of calls and visited with recruiters. At that point I had thought of my future. We talked about community college. I wanted to be a journalist. I also wanted to be a teacher and I ended up joining the Air Force,\u201d Willyard said. \u201cI was 16 and shallow still and didn\u2019t think green looked very good on me,\u201d she laughed.\n\nWillyard said her mom was supportive, but her stepdad was horrified because he didn\u2019t think military service was something young women should pursue.\n\nAfter graduating high school in May, Willyard started service in the Air Force in November and attended basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio.\n\nHer uncles who served in uniform advised her to stay under the radar. This included getting a bunk furthest away from the training instructor\u2019s office. She followed the advice, but wasn\u2019t there for long after she confronted another airman who was making the unit late to morning formation because she was curling her hair.\n\n\u201cWe were so involved in our conversation that we didn\u2019t even notice our training instructor was there until he yelled,\u201d Willyard said. \u201cHe looked at me and he goes \u2018You want to be in charge? You want my job?\u2019 And I said \u2018Sir, no sir.\u2019\u201d\n\nThe instructor made her squad leader and she was moved to the bed closest to his office.\n\nFollowing basic training, Willyard was assigned to medical administration and continued her education at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas. She found the classes interesting and appreciated the freedom and community feel of the base.\n\n\u201cIt was the best time of my life.\u201d\n\nShe calls the people she was training with family, so much so that when she received her first-choice duty station at a base in California, she was devastated to see a friend\u2019s disappointment about her assignment to England Air Force Base, Louisiana.\n\n\u201cThat girl cried for two days and it broke my heart,\u201d Willyard said. Her empathy and compassion led her to trade assignment locations with her friend.\n\nIn Louisiana, Willyard worked in medical records where she helped organize and sort patient files.\n\n\u201cI also learned valuable lessons about customer service. You picked up the phone and you picked it up on the first ring. And you didn\u2019t know if you were going to be talking to another airman like yourself or if you were going to be talking to a full bird colonel,\u201d she said.\n\nShe surrounded herself with mentors who aimed to see her do well and taught her skills that she still uses today.\n\nHer time in uniform is something that has been valuable to her life and work. She says it opened doors for her and she encourages those interested in military service to be ready for hard and rewarding work.\n\n\u201cI tell them be prepared to sacrifice because it\u2019s not about you. It\u2019s about the mission and you\u2019re choosing an occupation with so much honor and history. This country wouldn\u2019t be here if it weren\u2019t for soldiers, so you need to respect that. It\u2019s not just a job, it\u2019s a lifestyle. It\u2019s not something you should go into lightly,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd enjoy it.\u201d\n\nToday, Willyard lives in Northwest Arkansas and has found a calling to give back to her fellow veterans. She served in the Washington County Veteran Service Office before joining Boozman\u2019s staff where she supports the needs of active-duty military, veterans and their families.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m grateful for Maddie Willyard\u2019s service to our country in uniform and her continued support of her fellow veterans. We can be proud of her advocacy of the military and the important role it has had in her life. I\u2019m pleased to preserve her memories of service,\u201d Boozman said.\n\nBoozman submitted Willyard\u2019s entire interview to the Veterans History Project, an initiative of the Library of Congress\u2019s American Folklife Center to collect and retain the oral histories of our nation\u2019s veterans.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:55:29Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=DA671C41-0422-4D4D-992E-458397DF0775"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7515070028603077, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}