MADISON, Wis.—Jan. 9, 2023—The Green Bay Packers and WPS Health Solutions paid special tribute this week to Navy Lt. VanAnh McCormick in conjunction with the Jan. 8 game against the Detroit Lions. Operation Fan Mail, the program that recognizes military families and veterans at each Packers home game, marks its 16th season in 2022.
Born in Chicago, then living in Ohio, then in Florida, McCormick followed her immigrant father’s lead in supporting the Packers. Her father came to Wisconsin from Vietnam in the 1980s to attend college. He quickly became an American football fan and began rooting for the home team.
McCormick took part in the Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps while in high school in Florida. Upon graduation in 2009, she received an ROTC scholarship to attend Loyola University in Chicago. She joined the Navy in 2013 when she graduated from Loyola University. She then served on the USS Jason Dunham, a destroyer based in Norfolk, Va. In 2015, she was selected for nuclear training and went to Charleston, S.C. She was then assigned to the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in Norfolk in 2016. Following a three-month deployment, McCormick went to Naval Reactors Headquarters in Washington, D.C. for shore duty, where she trained prospective officers for all the aircraft carriers. In 2020, she attended department head school in Newport, R.I. Following that, she was selected to be a weapons officer and is now assigned to the USS Forrest Sherman in Norfolk. She has been awarded one Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal and three Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals.
McCormick attended the game with her husband, Dr. Michael McCormick, who was born and raised in Appleton, Wis. The two are celebrating their birthdays as well as their seventh wedding anniversary. Also in attendance were McCormick’s aunt, Julie Maxwell, and Julie’s husband, Jereme Maxwell.
As the honoree for Operation Fan Mail this week, McCormick received four tickets to the game and a $150 Packers Pro Shop gift card, courtesy of WPS.
The program, which debuted in 2007, is designed to honor families with a member who is on active duty or a member who is a veteran. The Packers and WPS Health Solutions hosted a family at each 2022 season home game and recognized the members on the video boards during pregame activities. A total of 157 individuals, families, or groups have been recognized through the program since it began.
