On Veteran’s Day, King Speaks with County Resident about Serving Country and Community

November 11, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME), a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs (SVAC) and Armed Services Committees (SASC), released his latest episode of “ Answering the Call: Maine’s Veteran Voices .” In the series, produced in partnership with the Library of Congress’ Veterans History Project , Senator King spoke with former Army reservist Melanie Junkins of Presque Isle, Maine.
Junkins served the country for many years with the Army Reserve. She also spent time in an Active Guard/Reserve (AGR) status.
“Melanie Junkins was one of the millions of Americans who has selflessly served our country, putting her own interests aside in pursuit of the greater American good,” said Senator King . “Most importantly, however, her commitment to service and community extends far beyond her time in the Army Reserve. Since moving to Maine, she has worked diligently at the Maine Department of Education and as a professor at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. Melanie also served as a panelist on my office’s military academy nominations board, helping to select the next generation of leaders for our national service academies. Melanie Junkins is the very best of America and I am glad we can now preserve her story in the Library of Congress for posterity.”
Melanie was born in South Korea, before being adopted and raised in Iowa. Throughout her childhood, she dreamed of becoming President of the United States. After learning she was Constitutionally-ineligible, Melanie wrote a letter to then-Senator Tom Harkin. In Harkin’s response, he commended Melanie for her desire to be a public servant. Then, in high school, an Army Recruiter visited Melanie’s class. She was intrigued by the avenue of public service, and after high school, she enlisted into the Army Reserve through the Split Training Option. She was sent to bootcamp in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri in 1997 when she was a junior in high school. She returned to Iowa for her senior year and after graduating high school, she completed her advanced training in Columbia, South Carolina. She then began working as an administrative assistant in the Army Reserves.
In 1999, Melanie joined the Active Guard Reserve in Rochester, New York, for the 98 th Division Headquarters. While there, Melanie met her husband, who was Active-Duty Coast Guard, stationed on Lake Ontario. Melanie left active status in August of 2001, returning to the Army Reserve, still under the 98 th Division, but in Lewiston, Maine. Melanie and her husband had their first child in early 2002 while her husband was stationed in Portland at sector New England. After leaving the Army Reserves in 2005 at the completion of her contract, they moved to the county where they gave birth to their daughter in 2006.
Throughout her career, Melanie served in Missouri, South Carolina, New York, and Maine. In New York, she supported the budget & finance office, and the personnel office, before working in training.
After retiring, she returned to Maine with her husband. A year later, in 2006, her daughter was born. In 2017, Melanie graduated from college, receiving her bachelor's degree from University of Maine, Presque Isle. In 2018, she received her Master of Science in Education in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (MSed in TESOL) from the University of Southern Maine. In recent years, Melanie worked for the Maine Department of Education, as a multilingual & bilingual education specialist and as an Assistant Professor of Education at the University of Maine, Presque Isle. She still believes in giving back to her community by advocating for educational opportunities for veterans and other servicemembers as well as English language learning for the wider northern Maine community. She has previously volunteered with Maine Children’s Home, Peer to Peer tutoring at Presque Isle High School, and Dream Factory Portland. She also served as a panelist on Senator King’s military academy nominations board from 2013-2021.
The Veterans History Project is an effort by the Library of Congress to collect, preserve and distribute the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. The interviews and primary documents from the project are then used by researchers, historians, students, and filmmakers across the country. Senator King joins many other members of Congress who’ve participated in the project, and was honored by the then-Librarian of Congress on Veterans Day 2022 when she participated in a one-on-one interview with him to talk through his Maine conversations.
Representing one of the states with the highest rates of military families and veterans per capita, Senator King is a staunch advocate for America’s servicemembers and veterans. A member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee (SVAC), he works to ensure American veterans receive their earned benefits and that the VA is properly implementing various programs such as the PACT Act , the State Veterans Homes Domiciliary Care Flexibility Act , and the John Scott Hannon Act. Recently, Senator King introduced bipartisan legislation to help reduce suicides among veterans by providing free secure firearm storage to veterans. In addition, he helped pass the Veterans COLA Act , which increased benefits for 30,000 Maine veterans and their families. Senator King has also introduced bipartisan legislation to improve care coordination for veterans who rely on both VA health care and Medicare.
You can watch previous episodes of “ Answering the Call: Maine’s Veteran Voices ” here .