Janet Santeramo

Janet Santeramo enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, serving in the Persian Gulf while participating in Operation Desert Shield, Operation Desert Storm and Operation Cease Fire. She was promoted to Corporal, and only two years later, attained the rank of Sergeant.

During her active duty tour, she served with the 8th Engineers Support Battalion (8th ESB) and the First Marine Air Wing (I MAW). She then transferred to the Select Marine Corps Reserves with 2nd Battalion 25th Marines. There she served as a Metal Worker/Welder (1316) and took on a secondary Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) of Administration/Legal. Thereafter, she served two years as an active Navy Reservist as a Hull Tech.

Ms. Santeramo earned the Navy Achievement Medal, Southwest Asia Medal (3 stars), Good Conduct Medal, Kuwaiti Liberation Medal, Presidential Unit Citation, Meritorious Unit Citation, Navy Unit Citation, National Defense Ribbon, Overseas Ribbon (2 stars), Cold War Ribbon, and two Letters of Appreciation.

As a veteran and attorney, she has been instrumental in assisting veterans, and in some cases, the widows and widowers who file to obtain veterans’ and Social Security benefits. Additionally, she has provided workshops to veterans and their families regarding filing for and explaining what benefits may be available to them.

She has been a member of her local Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 6249 for over 20 years, and currently is the Post’s Service Officer. She continues to participate in various activities in support of veterans and the local community. For example, she participated in Living History Day, along with the other veterans in her Post, where she had the opportunity to discuss what she did in service and answer questions from children about the time she served.

In 2020, she participated in the 66-mile hike from Citi Field to Grumman Memorial Park to raise awareness of the veteran suicide epidemic while helping to raise over $14,000 for three veteran-based non-profits. In addition, she is a member of the Suffolk County Bar Association Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs, where she has assisted in the planning and execution of the annual Pro Bono Veterans Day.