By Tracy McCormick-Dishman
editor@floridanewsline.com
Sandy Mitten has been breaking barriers her entire life, though she didn’t always realize it at the time. The spirited octogenarian earned her nickname “Grandma Gunner” manning a .50-caliber machine gun on a 22-foot patrol boat in the Persian Gulf during the Gulf War. These days, she uses those same steady hands to tend orchids and coordinate donations between Mandarin Lutheran Church and a local food bank.
Q: How did you get the nickname “Grandma Gunner”?
A: The memorable nickname stuck because I was already a grandmother when I deployed. When I put my feet on the Saudi sand, I was known as Grandma Gunner. I spent six months stationed at the port of Khobar, and I was part of the first Coast Guard Reserve unit ever activated for wartime duty — 97 members total, with only six women.
Q: What led you to join the Coast Guard Reserve?
A: That deployment was the culmination of a 27-year Coast Guard Reserve career that began in 1974. But it wasn’t my first time in uniform — I had briefly served in the Navy after high school, leaving when I became pregnant during a time when military women had to discharge if expecting. Years later, I was working at Briggs & Stratton and raising three children when I decided I needed additional retirement security. When the Navy recruiter said I’d need too many waivers with three children under 18, he suggested the Coast Guard instead. Two weeks later, I joined the Coast Guard Reserve.
Q: What barriers did you break during your military service?
A: My military service was groundbreaking in ways I didn’t fully realize at the time. I later learned I was the first woman in Wisconsin Coast Guard Reserve history to be called to wartime duty and the first woman at Briggs & Stratton to work in a supervisory position. Recognition followed me. My wartime letters to family are published in books about military correspondence. In 2021, I received the Woman of Valor honor at the Military Women’s Memorial in Washington, D.C., along with a Living Legend recognition that came as a complete surprise.
Q: How did you transition from military service to life in Florida?
A: After retiring from the Coast Guard, I spent eight years as my aunt’s caretaker before moving to Florida to be closer to my children and grandchildren. I brought 165 plants with me — a testament to my other passion. I have an associate degree in ornamental horticulture, and I had run a landscape consulting business in Wisconsin. I can’t do as much gardening as I used to, but I still maintain my orchids and volunteer at Mandarin Lutheran Church.
Q: What kind of volunteer work do you do at Mandarin Lutheran Church?
A: I’ve been a member at Mandarin Lutheran Church since 2013, and I serve as fellowship lead. I also take food donations over to St. Joseph’s Catholic Church food bank. What started out as just dropping off food turned into something bigger when food bank volunteer Kenny began sending baby supplies back with me. One time he said to me, “Sandy, wait a minute, I’ve got some stuff for you to take to church.” And he brings out all these baby wipes, and diapers, and food, and formula. That simple exchange helps keep our church’s baby pantry going.
Q: What do you want people to know about your life of service?
A: I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging because I’m not. Fortunately, I have had so many blessings given to me by God over the last 25-30 years.
The connection between Mitten’s military past and community service might seem unlikely, but for her, both represent a lifetime of breaking barriers and serving others. She lives in Mandarin and continues her volunteer work at Mandarin Lutheran Church.
