Eaton native, UNC grad makes speech at RNC

Lt. Gen. Carol Mutter, an Eaton native and University of Northern Colorado graduate, spoke to a packed Xcel Energy Center and a national TV audience about 90 minutes before Sen. John McCain gave his presidential-nominee acceptance speech.

Mutter gave a brief speech between Bill Frist, former U.S. Senate Majority Leader, and U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback (Kan.) about 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

Mutter served 31 years in the U.S. Marine Corps and in 1994 became the first woman major general in the Corps and the most senior woman on active duty in the Armed Forces.

Jack Schneider, her cousin who also grew up in Eaton, proudly watched Mutter's speech on TV from his Severance home.

"I was real impressed. I thought she brought up some good points," he said. "Obviously, she wasn't just there to push for John McCain. She was pushing to get a scholarship program going for another female Marine officer who lost her life in 2006. And she also pressed hard for John McCain."

Mutter, now retired and living in Indianapolis with her husband, appealed for support of a military scholarship fund in honor of Megan McClung. McClung was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2006, becoming the highest-ranking female servicemember to perish in the war.

Mutter said that McClung, 34, a public affairs officer in the Marines, had a credo when it came to dealing with the press: "Be bold, be brief, be gone."

Besides talking about McClung's bravery and service, Mutter spoke of the importance of a strong military and commitment to country.

"She's a strong advocate of the military, as am I, and she was very strong in her points as to what John McCain's doing for our military, and how he will keep our military strong in the U.S.," Schneider said.

Schneider, who watched the RNC live on a satellite dish service, said he was alerted to Mutter's speech by Florence Kammerzell, another cousin who lives in Greeley. Kammerzell said she missed the speech because she was tuned to CNN, which didn't show Mutter.

Mutter graduated from Eaton High School in 1963 and earned a bachelor's degree in math education from UNC in 1967. She entered the Marines after college and became the first woman to qualify as Command Center crew commander/space director at U.S. Space Command. In 1996 she became the first woman in any of the services to be nominated by the President for three stars. At that time, she was the only woman among 107 male three-star military officers in the nation.

Schneider, who watched Mutter get inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2004, said his cousin showed a knack for leadership at a young age.

"I was very impressed. I went from an enlisted man to an officer in the (Colorado) Air National Guard. I was very impressed with how she moved up through the ranks in the Marines," he said. "She is a very self-disciplined, very intelligent lady. When she puts her mind to something she gets it done."