Carbon County Veterans Affairs director honored

Carbon County’s Veterans Affairs director will be honored for her service by the Pennsylvania Commission for Women in March.

On Thursday, the board of commissioners celebrated Christine LeClair’s selection by the state and Gov. Tom Wolf.

“I want to publicly recognize her for her selflessness and bravery in keeping our country safe and protecting our freedom,” Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein said, noting that this honor is part of the Female Veterans Day celebration, which thanks the 71,000 female veterans living in the state.

Commissioner Chris Lukasevich, who is also a veteran, said, “On behalf of all veterans, thank you for your commitment to each and every one of us.”

He then read a paragraph from one of the nomination letters about LeClair, adding that the letter “sums up significantly the accomplishments and value you brought to this community.”

LeClair said she was surprised when she received the letter and is very excited to attend the celebration at the governor’s residence in Harrisburg on March 25 as part of Women’s History Month.

“I look forward to continuing my service to the veterans in Carbon County,” she said, adding that next weekend, she has also been invited to speak at the Military Order of the Purple Heart.

LeClair has served as the county’s Veterans Affairs director since Dec. 2, after Henry Desrosiers retired.

She served two tours in Iraq and one tour in Central America, where she worked on counternarcotics missions, traveling to Belize, Guatemala and El Salvador to work with their militaries in the hopes of stopping drug cartels that were trying to transport drugs into the United States, before returning to the Panther Valley area.

She is the mother of two children and is very active in a number of service organizations, including as the first vice commander and a service officer for American Legion Post 123 in Lansford; a trustee in the Legion Home Association; a Carbon County Outreach representative for the Valor Clinic Foundation; the president for the St. Vincent de Paul Society; sits on Parish Pastoral Council of St. Joseph Church; the veteran mentor coordinator for Carbon County Veterans Court; is on the board of directors for the Panther Valley Public Library; and is a VFW and American Legion Auxiliary member.