Lincoln’s Davis carried on family’s military legacy

LINCOLN — As a 17-yearold fresh out of high school, many friends, and even family, failed at first to really see and understand what drove Michelle Davis to enlist in the United States Marine Corps.

“I needed a personal challenge, and the Marines certainly provided that for me,” said the quiet, smiling young woman, thinking back to her 1999 enlistment in the Marines.

From her tiny high school in nearby Westville, Okla., to Parris Island boot camp in Beaufort, S.C., was not only many physical miles away from her home and all she knew, but it was also a distance to becoming the real person she so strove to become.

“Many would never understand it, that I was trying to find more than a real sense of patriotism for this country, that was and is still so important to me,” she said. “But my enlistment in the Marines was so much more.”

That “more” to Davis was about personal growth, learning organizational skills, and finally adding to her personal and family legacy of becoming a veteran.

“My grandfather, my dad and even farther back my relatives were all on both sides in the military,” she said.

“When I came along in the family line, well there were a lot of females and fewer males, so I was to be the first [in what now has become a line of] females to enlist,” she said.

When talking about it, she slightly smiled as she reflected upon her decision to become a U.S. Marine.

From the boot camp days at Parris Island, Davis, who was then PFC Michelle Chunestudey, grew up quickly, she said.

“I went to Parris Island a 17-year-old girl fresh out of a tiny Oklahoma town, and I emerged as a 17-year- old woman, a Marine, and ready to serve my country.”

During an interview before Veterans Day 2022, which was Friday, Davis said the holiday some years just creeps up slowly — almost surprising her that another Veterans Day celebration is upon her.

“I can tell you sometimes the feeling of patriotism and Veterans Day is much stronger in subsequent years,” she said.

“I see proud veterans from all the branches of service that have served much longer, given much more sacrifice and the excitement in their eyes for this special day each year.”

Being a Marine veteran is something Davis said makes her very proud.

“It means a great deal to me personally to carry on the legacy in my family of serving in the military,” she said.

Her sister, Jessica, followed her example to enlist and serve, but she joined the Army, making Davis still the only female Marine in the family line.

“I considered my enlistment a continuing of a commitment my family had with the military,” Davis said. “My grandfather was in World War II, my dad was in the Korean Conflict, and on it goes.”

Her parents, Jackie Campbell and John Chunestudey, are both proud of her sacrifice and service, she said.

Davis says her time in the Marines gave her a belonging and drive to become a lifelong citizen of her adopted community of Lincoln.

“I have a perfect life,” she said. “I live 10 miles from my driveway to my parents’ house in Oklahoma, and it is another 10 miles to my in-laws in the other direction.”

While home from her early days in the Marines, she was accompanying a Marine recruiter to Siloam Springs to give talks on joining the Marines to students at her future husband’s high school.

Meeting Jason, their whirlwind romance and eventual marriage would come much later, she laughed.

Davis said she longs for “more patriotism in our nation,” and also wishes that “divisive barriers would be forgotten” with the nation pulling more together from both sides of the political spectrum.

She is the mother of two daughters, Kimberleigh, 22, a Navy enlistee, and Emily Meckley, 20, who is expecting Davis’ first granddaughter. Both are Lincoln High graduates.

Davis’ spouse, Jason, keeps the family connected in his hometown of Lincoln. Michelle Davis commutes each day to Fayetteville where she is an accounting clerk at a large real estate and rental company.

She fills her time, now that both daughters have left the family “nest,” with serving as a member of the Lincoln City Council.

“Veterans Day is indeed a special day for America,” she said.

“I’ll always be proud to be a veteran, and I am proud to see others reflect upon their military service on this day and every day as we live out our lives in our communities where military service and honor are respected.”

(Submitted Photo) Davis now works as an accounting clerk at a large real estate and rental company in Fayetteville. She also serves as a member of the Lincoln City Council.

(Submitted Photo) Michelle Chunestudey, now Michelle Davis, enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps when she was 17 years old.