When Bureau County native LeeAnn Joyce enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, she fulfilled two dreams at once, becoming a nurse while serving in the military.

“I always wanted to join the military and I always wanted to be a nurse,” Joyce said. “Some people didn’t know what they wanted to do when they were younger but I felt like I always knew.”

Joyce, now 69 and living in Princeton, grew up in Ladd and earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing before commissioning as an Air Force officer in 1983. Joyce officially enlisted on Dec. 7, a date she never forgot because it coincides with the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

She was stationed at Edwards Air Force Base in California from 1983 to 1987, serving as a charge nurse and later a house supervisor. The role required leadership, organization and calm under pressure – qualities Joyce said always came naturally to her.

“I have always been very task-oriented,” she said. “I knew what I needed to do and I just got things done.”

Before entering the military, Joyce worked in an emergency room and expected to become a flight nurse. While that path didn’t materialize, she participated in helicopter patient transfers and handled high-pressure situations at the busy testing base.

One of her most memorable experiences was providing support when the space shuttle landed at Edwards.

“Because I had an emergency room background, they asked me to do shuttle support,” she said. “That was memorable.”

Joyce said she didn’t face many challenges as a woman in uniform and chose the Air Force simply because she preferred the uniforms. However, not everyone in her family supported her decision at first.

“My mother and my aunt thought I was nuts,” Joyce said. “But I told them, I want to get out of this area for a bit, and the only way I knew how at the time was to join the military.”

Her father, a U.S. Army veteran, offered his own take.

“He said, ‘Well, they won’t kill you,’” she recalled with a laugh. “Thank you, Dad.”

When her four-year commission ended in 1987, Joyce decided not to extend it and returned home to Ladd. She continued her career in health care as a home health nurse, a profession she stayed in for more than 30 years before retiring at 65.

When asked what she would tell a young person considering the military today, Joyce spoke from experience - saying the decision has to be personal.

“My son wanted to join the military at one point in his life, and I told him this ‘If you want to go, you go. But you make up your mind, not someone else.’”

She didn’t remain very active in veterans organizations, but said the identity of being a veteran is still meaningful for her. Over the years, she worked with a few other nurses who had served and found a sense of shared experience, even if their paths were a bit different.

Looking back, Joyce said she has no regrets about joining the Air Force and remains grateful for the opportunity.

“I’m proud to be able to say I’m a veteran,” Joyce said. “Not too many people, especially females, can say that.”

For Joyce, that pride has never faded.