Iron Range native honored as Veteran Trailblazer
IRON RANGE, Minn. -- A Minnesota woman is among the best of the best. The Iron Range native just got honored in D.C. by the First Lady.
The Iron Range of Minnesota is a cold place to live, but Shelby Setnikar says it's also full of warmth.
"The Iron Range is home, it's where I grew up. It's our culture, our music, our food, you don't find it elsewhere," she said.
A childhood she savors, but she knew as an adult she wanted to get away.
"My dad's family is Slovenian and they all worked in the iron ore mines in northern Minnesota. It's pretty common for miners to want their kids to do better and go to college, at least with my generation," Setnikar said.
She didn't know how to get money for college, so she enlisted in the U.S. Army so the GI BIll would eventually pay for school.
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But she was about to be in for a life lesson. It was 1990 and the Gulf War had just begun.
"They called us all together and they said, 'In about a month or so you are going to deploy,' and we're like, 'What is that? What does this mean?' And on Christmas Eve we did and we landed in Saudi Arabia," Setnikar said. "There's not a lot of women in the infantry division, so it was kind of scary, and I don't think there was many women there, if any, and we then proceeded into Kuwait and Iraq."
She was on the front lines.
"I knew I was way too close when they were firing missiles from behind me and I thought, 'Oh my god, I am never gonna see Minnesota again,'" Setnikar said.
But seven months later, she did. She enrolled in college and kept on going, becoming a doctor of pharmacy. Now she works at the Minneapolis VA.
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"I think if you are a veteran, there's no better place than getting to work with veterans everyday. I can relate to them. We all have, all veterans have different stories but there is always something you share in common and can chat about," Setnikar said. "I get to talk with lots of Vietnam veterans and every once in a while World War II veterans, so that's really fun. And when I tell them I was in the army, it's just like instant, their face lights up and you just have something in common immediately, you know you do."
"Sometimes they tell you stories and they are hard to hear," she continued "But sometimes the best thing you can do is take five minutes to listen and they just wanted to tell a little bit of their story. And it's an honor. As far as I am concerned, it's the best job I could have."
And that job agrees with her. She's built quite the reputation at the hospital. A coworker nominated her for being a trailblazing female veteran.
Out of hundreds, she was one of 21 winners.
"We were at the Library of Congress and the secretary of the VA was handing out awards and I was like, 'Wow, this is bigger than I thought, this is a big deal,' but it was such an honor. It was priceless," Setnikar said. "I was the only one from Minnesota and so, you never expect anything like that."
Humble but strong, this hardworking Iron Ranger continues to serve.
