On Friday, May 10th, Commissioner Melinda Kane celebrated the birthday of World War II Veteran May Brill.
Brill, a resident of Cherry Hill, enlisted in the Navy’s Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) at the age of 20, during World War II. She was stationed in California and played a vital role in a female supply unit, ensuring goods reached the United States Fleet in the Pacific.
Brill is a longtime activist for veteran’s rights. In 2019 she co-founded Women are not Invisible, an organization that produces military hats designed specifically for women and encourages them to wear the hats and to take great pride in their service. She is also the chairman of New Jersey’s Women in the Military, one of the chairpersons of the Veterans Memorial home in Vineland, NJ, an honorary commander of the Jewish War Veterans post 126 and honorary commander for the Jewish War Veterans for the state of New Jersey.
“May is an incredible woman who has dedicated her life to serving her community and advocating for veterans,” said Commissioner Kane, liaison to the Department of Veterans Affairs. “She has given so much of her life to bettering the world around her and she deserves to be celebrated for accomplishing something very few get to do, turning 100 years old. I am honored to be able to celebrate with May and her loved ones on this momentous occasion.”
Outside of her veterans work she has organized the knitting of thousands of hats for newborns in Israel and Camden County. Brill was also a 2024 Camden County MLK Freedom Medal winner.