ARLINGTON, Va. – The Logistics Officer Association is proud to present Mae Krier with the organization’s 2021 Lt. Gen. Michael E. Zettler Lifetime Achievement Award. Krier is loved and respected worldwide for her work on B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-29 Superfortresses at the Boeing plant in Seattle, Washington during WWII.

Krier, who will celebrate her 96th birthday days after the 2022 LOA Symposium, has spent the last 40 years advocating for formal recognition of the role women played in supporting the war effort during WWII.

“One day while talking to our children about what we did, I decided it was time to do something about it,” Krier said. “I started to write letters and I never gave up. It took a long time for a newspaper to pick up on my story and ever since then, Rosie’s are getting the recognition they deserve.”

Krier was instrumental in Congress’s 2017 decision to annually recognize March 21st as National Rosie the Riveter Day, and the passing of the 2020 Rosie the Riveter Congressional Gold Medal Act. The act collectively awards the Congressional Gold Medal to more than 16 million women who built aircraft, vehicles, weaponry, and ammunition during the war.

Krier says she is very proud of the role she played in getting the medal awarded, and noted one of the bill’s sponsors, Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), called her after the bill passed to personally congratulate her on her accomplishment.

She is no stranger to the U.S. Air Force community and has spent time with former Chief of Staff of the Air Force David Goldfein, whose wife Dawn hosted Krier’s 93rd birthday at the Pentagon. She has met former Secretaries of the Air Force Heather Wilson and Barbara Barrett, along with various other senior military leaders.

Krier is beloved by the contemporary military community but says one of her favorite memories is from her days at Boeing in the 1940s when she got to shake the hand of General of the Air Force Henry “Hap” Arnold.

“He was so nice to us and after he left, we were so proud of what we were doing,” she remembers. “He just had that way about him, to make us proud and to keep our morale up.”

The 2022 LOA Symposium will mark the second time Krier has participated in the event.

“LOA is proud to present its most prestigious award to a true American hero who has dedicated her life to supporting and recognizing the essential role women have played, and currently play, in the defense of our nation,” said Holly Gramkow, LOA Chief Financial Officer.

Krier will formally accept the Lifetime Achievement Award during the 2022 LOA Symposium in Salt Lake City, Utah March 15-18, alongside newly retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Donald E. ‘Gene’ Kirkland, and Steve Morani, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment (Logistics) and Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment.

To learn more about the 2022 LOA Symposium visit logisticsymposium.org.