Lori and her husband Pastor John Benson

Lori Kier's story begins when she was seventeen years old and living in Staunton, Virginia. She was a senior in high school and looking forward to graduating and getting out of her hometown. She wasn't confident in her grades, so she decided to join the military. Since she was only seventeen she had to have her mother's signature of approval; however, her mother said no. Lori told her mother that she would go anyway even if she had to wait until she was eighteen. Lori eventually joined the military and two weeks after her high school graduation she was on her way to a new adventure at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. From there she went to Mississippi and then permanently stationed in Little Rock. Lori served four years in U.S. Air Force. Her favorite memories are those about playing basketball and traveling all over the southern United States. Lori says she learned discipline while in service and it was that discipline that got her through college as an adult. Today Lori still lives in Virginia and she works in Crisis Counseling. She is married to her husband of 19 years and they have four children and two grandchildren. She is passionate about adoption and fostering children. She is working on becoming a licensed clinical social worker. For those entering the military (especially black women), Lori gives this advice: don't let anyone tell you that you can't do something and if they do, use those words to "fuel your fire".