On March 22, 2017, 25-year-old SSGT Alexandria Mae “Alex” Gleason Morrow lost her life while performing maintenance duties while in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, assigned to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing in Jordan. She was transferring bombs from a F-15 and was fatally injured as a result of a misalignment and fall of a bomb from the rack. Stateside, Alex was assigned to the 366th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho.

Alex was a 2009 graduate of Dansville Highschool in Dansville, N.Y., and became a proud member of the U.S. Air Force upon graduation. Alex left behind her husband and two daughters, as well as many family members and friends.
Alex was a compassionate, loving soul and was nicknamed “Mother of the Flight Line.” She was remembered by all who were deployed with her and would sometimes add special messages on air-deployed missiles for ISIS. One such message read, “To: ISIS, From: Alexandria Morrow, Here’s a toast” (Air Force Times, Panzino, Sept 7, 2017) in her memory.
Carrying on with Alex’s mission to protect and defend with compassion and strength, the American Legion Auxiliary of Livingston County, N.Y., and her family decided to create a memorial that would Honor Alex and all she stood for; and in 2019 they awarded the first $1,000 scholarship in her memory.
Since the inception of the program, the SSGT Alexandria Gleason-Morrow Memorial Committee has grown to become a Livingston County Legion Family Committee with three Legionnaires and a SAL member on the committee, maintaining a scholarship program that has been accredited with a total $15,000 in scholarships. But that’s not all that the organization has done; they have provided support to various local nonprofit organizations also.
The members of the Livingston County American Legion Family decided to expand once again by raising funds for service dogs for veterans’ individual needs and purpose. For Memorial Day, on June 2, the SSGT Alexandria Gleason-Morrow Memorial Committee presented “Pawsitive for Heroes” with a check in the amount of $15,000 that will be used for western New York Veterans and service dogs.
“The goal of the Livingston County American Legion Family and Alex’s family is to continue to raise funds and sponsor service dogs for veterans in western New York,” said Debby Herrmann, Livingston County Auxiliary president.