Janet Sam, District #6, is the Choctaw Nation’s March Veteran of the Month.
Sam grew up in Dallas, Tex., and different areas of eastern Oklahoma, graduating from Idabel High School. She joined the military after graduation at her sister’s recommendation, who was also in the military. Sam joined the National Guard in June 1984.
She completed Basic Training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina and was recognized for the quick assembly of her M-16 rifle.
Sam then went to Indiana for business classes, then to Fort Lee, Virginia, where she worked in the supply area and trained and competed in the Commanders Cup. Her favorite duty station was in Indiana, where she enjoyed the people she met.
Upon being honorably discharged in March 1987 with the rank of E-4, Sam married, moved to Tennessee, and started raising her family.
She later moved to Broken Bow and then to Wilburton in 1990. During her career, she worked in a factory making gloves, at the Choctaw Travel Plaza in Wilburton for 17 years, then began working in the Choctaw Community Center in Talihina, where she is still employed.
Sam is the proud mother of Taylor Ramsey, Thomas “Bubba” Billy, and Matthew Billy, and is the grandmother of Emma, Hatapushik, Omba, and Kitsey. She enjoys playing cornhole with her son and occasionally playing chair volleyball.
She expressed her appreciation for this honor and for the work of Chief Gary Batton, Assistant Chief Jack Austin Jr., and her councilperson, Jennifer Woods.
The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma holds our Veterans in the highest esteem and appreciates their sacrifices and contributions to preserve our freedoms and the way of life we hold dear.