Patty Drury: a story of service and patriotism

The patriotic aspect of Daughters of the American Revolution, or DAR, is an area of particular interest for Patty Drury.

Since 2007, Drury has been involved with DAR. She currently serves as a regent with Louisa St. Clair Chapter, DAR of Michigan, chair of the DAR Service for Veterans Committee, and National Vice Chair, DAR Service for Veterans – Women Veterans.

DAR is a women's service organization dedicated to historic preservation, education, and patriotism.

“To join DAR, you have to prove direct lineal descent from a Revolutionary War Patriot and so far, have proven seven patriots,” she said. “The first I proved was Phillip Drury, on my dad’s side.”

In the last few years, examples of the local DAR Chapter’s involvement at The War Memorial include volunteering at the Memorial Day Ceremony, attending veterans events, and even dedicating a Revolutionary War Patriots marker at our 2024 Memorial Day Ceremony.   

In 2024 and 2025, the local chapter has sponsored a coffee hour at Veterans Day Breakfast, with Drury leading the Pledge of Allegiance during the program.       

Drury, 68, is a retired Army Reserve master sergeant who spent 27 years in the Army Reserve, retiring in 2008. The Grosse Pointe resident grew up in Berkeley and enlisted in the Army in 1981.  

“After working for a bit after school, I knew I wanted to do this thing and serve,” she said. “What stuck with me from being a kid was when I was working at Baker’s Drug Store, one of our customers was Hugo Salchow and he took part in the Polar Bear Expedition in World War I. Thinking of how cool that was definitely inspired me.”   

Some of her assignments included serving as assistant inspector general of the 85th Division in Arlington Heights, Illinois. There, she was responsible for mediation, investigations, and inspections at a command serving 3,000 soldiers.  

“I went to the Inspector General school at Fort Belvoir and that was an all-service school for one month,” she said. “It was hard, but I learned a lot. Some of the things you do in that job was unit inspections and investigate mistreatment claims.” 

As public affairs supervisor with the 70th Division in Livonia, Drury was a media liaison and community relations representative and editor. 

“I was there for a long time, starting out as a photojournalist,” she said. “The mission of the 70th Division during war was to take over one station unit training at Fort Benning, Georgia. I went down there with some frequency and one cool thing I got to do was drive a Bradley Fighting Vehicle, a huge tank with a TOW missile on its turret.” 

With the 300th Military Police Command in Inkster, she was a chief personnel sergeant. During Operation Desert Storm, Drury worked as the personnel management supervisor and was active duty for five years in Michigan and at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin.  

“I was activated for one year during Desert Storm and was in a reserve garrison unit which meant that my unit was activated to take over operations at Fort McCoy,” she said. “We were among the first called and last released but never got to go anywhere.”  

Her military education included studying at the U.S. Army Inspector General Agency, the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy, and the U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Information School.  

“One of the cool things was going through basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina and I was one of the first integrated basic combat training groups,” Drury said when asked what she expected military life to be like. “There were three male platoons and one female platoon, and I think before that, it was totally separate. We did a lot of things together, which I took pride in.”  

Speaking more about military service as a female, Drury said there was good natured ribbing, but she at no time felt disrespected. 

“I had a really good experience, and guys would dish it, and I would dish it right back,” she said. “If you take yourself too seriously, you’re not going to have a happy life.” 

Aside from her work with DAR, Drury is also a member of the Frederick M. Alger American Legion Post 372 which frequently meets at The War Memorial.