Rainy Sor won’t join fellow Texas Woman’s University students on campus until early next year, but the U.S. Army staff sergeant serving in Afghanistan joined in the university’s Veterans Day celebrations via an Internet phone call.

Sor, on her third tour in Afghanistan, was born in a refugee camp in Thailand, she said, and she joined the military to give back to the country that took her in years ago.

“This gave me something to do and I was able to give back to my country,” Sor said.

Other women from several branches of the military — those who served in the past, those currently serving and those looking to serve in the future — also expressed feeling a duty to their country at the university’s event Wednesday.

Veterans Day is an important day to honor all who have served in the military and gives those who haven’t served a rare opportunity to thank veterans for choosing to serve our country, said Katherine Landdeck, TWU professor of history and leader of the university’s American Democracy Project Civic Agency Initiative.

“Historically, TWU is for women, and it was important to take the opportunity to recognize our women veterans,” Landdeck said. “If we aren’t going to do it, who is?”

The reasons for joining the military varied between the panelists, which included Sor; TWU students Kim Strachan, a U.S. Marine Corps reservist; Kat Sokolova, a member of the U.S. Air Force; and TWU alumna Michelle Ferrell, a recently retired 20-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force.

Strachan joined the military at age 19 after struggling with drugs and alcohol, she said.

It was only after spinning her car into a ditch and hitting a tree that she realized she was living a destructive life and joined the Marines, Strachan said.

It took Strachan 13 weeks of boot camp and being broken down by her commanders before she was able to prove her worth to her friends, family and recruiter, she said.

With a 10-to-1 male-to-female ratio in the Marines, Strachan said, she thought she would have a hard time being accepted by other Marines.

However, Strachan went through the same rigorous boot camp and training to become a member of the close “brotherhood,” she said.

“We all wear the same uniform,” she said. “It’s a brotherhood, but I say that loosely. It’s really a big family and there’s a mutual respect for all Marines.”

Now the education senior is serving as president of TWU’s Student Veteran’s Association and is proud of being a Marine and veteran, Strachan said.

“For the first time, I felt like I accomplished something,” she said.

CANDACE CARLISLE can be reached at 940-566-6889. Her e-mail address is ccarlisle@dentonrc.com.