WELCOME DOROTHY MEINDOK TO THE POST NEWSPAPER

By Ruth Ann Ruiz

The Post Newspaper Features Editor

Little Miss Sunshine has arrived in Galveston County bringing with her a smile that can light up a dark night at sea. 

“When I was in boot camp, I got in trouble for smiling too much. I guess you’re not supposed to be happy in boot camp. Basically, it was the thing they could pick on me about, so they did,” said Dorothy Meindok. 

Her cheerful spirit and hard work got her through high school with her graduating class even though she had dropped out for a bit, and it was doubted by school counselors that she would graduate on time.

She had not intended on becoming a sailor in the Navy, but while at San Jacinto College, her advisors encouraged her to join the Navy. Coming from a seafaring family, she thought “why not?” So, she enlisted on May 23, 1989, with her first stop – Florida — for boot camp. 

“At boot camp they asked us who likes clothes and since I had some retail experience I raised my hand,” said Meindok. She was not assigned to the new uniform handout post; nope, she was assigned to laundry detail for 50 other female sailors. 

When she puts her mind to doing a job well, Meindok excels even if it means getting woken up every 30 minutes during the night to change the laundry. “I believe in disposable clothing now,” Meindok added as she thought about those long nights. 

“I guess I did really well as Petty Laundry Officer because I was meritoriously advanced in boot camp,” added Meindok.

From there she went to the Great Lakes Naval Station in Illinois. She began A school as an E-3 and trained to be a propulsion engineer. After her training she was sent to the San Francisco Bay area where she boarded an ammunitions ship. Eventually, Meindok ended up in the Persian Gulf and in the seas of Asia. 

“I got to see all kinds of great places because of my experiences in the Navy. Malaysia was absolutely beautiful. I never would have gone there if it weren’t for the Navy. I was in Nagasaki Japan and got to talk with some of the people who had relatives who survived the bomb. Those are really cool experiences for a young woman,” Meindok shared.  

After an honorable discharge from the Navy, she lived in San Francisco for a while then Iowa and finally returned to Texas.

Though she loved her time serving our nation, it wasn’t exactly a rose garden. Meindok lived through several sexual assaults while in the Navy, leaving her with lifelong scars. It was because of a dedicated advocate at the Veterans Center in Houston that Meindock began her road to healing from the sexual assaults. 

Because of attention to her specific case from the diligent Houston office, Meindock was evaluated and provided treatment for PTSD by the Veterans Administration in Palo Alto, CA. She was awarded full military disability status and given financial compensation.

Getting a check from the VA each month wasn’t satisfactory for Meindock. She needed a purpose for going forward with her life. This led her to enter undergraduate studies at The University of Texas-MD Anderson in laboratory science specializing in microbiology and virology. 

The next part of this story seems like it would be her becoming an MD. Instead, she went to law school and got her JD at South Texas College of Law before heading to New York and began providing legal services to families and Veterans. 

In her 12 years working as an advocate for Veterans, she has helped countless Veterans and their families secure millions of dollars in compensation for military-related medical conditions. 

Through her own experiences, her formal education, and her years of advocating for others, she has become a woman with boundless resources and information for Veterans. The Post Newspaper is proud to welcome Dorothy Meindock into the folds of our newspaper family with her weekly Veteran’s Corner.

“One of my first columns will be walking people through Galveston County Veterans’ Court,” said Meindok. “I’ll share with the readers the many resources that are available to Veterans and educate them on how they can navigate through the VA system,” she added.

She will be bringing her sunshine spirit and good news to Galveston County Veterans and all our readers. Look for her once a week Veteran’s Corner on in The Post Community Newspaper, Sunday Edition starting on January 9, 2022.