Oldest US park ranger back at work after attack at home

As 94-year-old Betty Soskin returned Tuesday morning, her colleagues said they were relieved to see that she is still herself.

(AP Photo/Ben Margot). National Park Service Ranger Betty Reid Soskin walks outside the Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historical Park Tuesday, July 12, 2016, in Richmond, Calif. WATCH VIDEO:94-year-old plans to remain in Richmond home after brutal attackShe may sound fragile, but her spirit is strong.

National Park Service ranger Betty Reid Soskin looks on while working at the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park on October 24, 2013.

Soskin said she was glued to her television during her recovery, alluding to events such as the recent police shootings of black men during routine traffic stops in Minnesota and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. “Sitting around home in the space where all that happened was a little less comforting”.

Electronics, jewelry and Soskin’s prized possession, including a commemorative coin President Obama gave her in December, were stolen. Soskin told KTVU that she plugged in an iron and prepared to “brand” him if he came in.

The attacker has not been caught. Tom Leatherman, told the media that he was actually been contacted by Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewel and was told that the White House would be replacing the coin.

More than $50,000 has been raised in an online fund-raising effort to help the beloved Soskin replace the items she lost in the robbery, including a computer and other equipment. She hadn’t wanted to return, her colleagues said, until her face had healed from the bruising stemming from the violent home invasion, where the thief also punched her several times, police said.

“I have been contemporary I think at every decade of my life. and I think as long as that’s true, I’ll go on giving what I can and receiving what is possible”, she said.