“I am leaving with a heavy heart because I lost a job that I love so much, but on the other hand, I am happy because I will still be serving in the same line of work, and this is still a win-win situation,” Coleman told the Variety yesterday.
She said that she already talked with Gov. Benigno Fitial.
“The governor was happy I am moving on to advancement and I can still serve the veterans and the people of the CNMI,” Coleman said.
She said that with her new post, she will be able to provide more services and benefits with faster access to the veterans.
Coleman said she hopes her replacement as Military and Veterans Affairs executive director will have the same dedication, commitment, energy and love for the work because “it’s not an easy job,” she added.
“I will still be here for our veterans, and they can still come to me for assistance,” Coleman said.
She renewed her call to all veterans to register and claim the benefits they are entitled to.
“If you will not come out, we will not know you are there, and we cannot extend assistance that should be yours,” she added.
Coleman said based on their current records, there are 1,481 veterans in the CNMI, with 101 of them on Tinian and 98 on Rota. She said 300 are in active military duty and deployed in Iraq, Kuwait and other parts of the world and 14 have died serving the nation.
Coleman will be leaving for over a month to train in Guam and Honolulu, but she will be back to start serving the veterans at her new office at the Veterans Clinic at MH2 Building in Puerto Rico.
Coleman started working for the CNMI government as deputy director for the Military and Veterans Affairs Office in 2002. She became its director from 2004 to 2005 and was named executive director from 2007 to the present.
