By District 39A Rep. Bob Dettmer Some of you may have received word that two bills I authored exempting congressionally chartered veterans organizations such as American Legions and VFWs from property taxes would be heard in the House Taxes Committee on Thursday. We received further […]
ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs has been forming its legislative initiatives for the 2020 session. Opening day of the session is Feb. 11, and Veterans Day on the Hill is slated for April 20. The MDVA plans to ask the state […]
ST. PAUL — Agent Orange is the topic of discussion for the February gathering of the Vietnam War Roundtable. Local veterans and experts will share the lasting impact of the defoliant chemical. The topic spurred great interest last year, according to the roundtable’s website. The […]
Commander’s Column, By Mark Dvorak American Legion State Oratorical Contest finals are set! They will be held at the Anoka and Osseo American Legion Posts on Saturday, Feb. 29. At this time, it appears all 10 districts will have a contestant. This is good news […]
By Betty Jass On Feb. 3, it will be the 77-year anniversary of the sinking of the troop ship SS Dorchester. According to Wikipedia, the “Four Chaplains,” also referred to as the “Immortal Chaplains” or the “Dorchester Chaplains,” were four World War II Chaplains who […]
FAIRMONT — The veterans memorial site in Martin County has received a Bell Cobra-Fixed Wing Attack Helicopter that served the U.S. Army in Vietnam and Laos from 1968 to 1971. Five states were vying for the acquisition of the Cobra, “due to the hard work […]
PINE RIVER — Pine River Post 613 has remodeled most of its club and came up with a memorial bar top with lasered wood to look like dog tags, said Commander Terry Steele. “We have sold the dog tags for the cost of making the […]
WABASHA — Andru Peters, commander of Wabasha County American Legion and former legislative chair for District 1 of Minnesota, is pushing state government to pass a bill giving 100 percent property-tax relief to posts that own buildings. He also wants posts of The American Legion […]
By Dee Dee Buckley The National Security Program promotes a strong national defense supporting servicemembers and their families. The National Security pages included 2019-2020 Unit Guide lists the three major areas that our National organization would like to see as our emphasis this year. The […]
INDIANAPOLIS — The leader of the nation’s largest veterans organization has called on health care administrators to study the findings of a recent VA inspector general’s report to ensure that circumstances that contributed to a veteran’s 2018 suicide do not re-occur. “One veteran suicide is […]
MINNEAPOLIS — Imagine taking college classes at the site of your next employer. That’s pretty much what is happening at the Minneapolis Veterans Home. The Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs has a new partnership with Inver Hills Community College that allows nursing students to take […]
MINNEAPOLIS — New Commissioner of Veterans Affairs Larry Herke “probably thought I was stalking him,” said Peggy Moon at the opening of the steel truss bridge outside the Minneapolis Veterans Home on Jan. 9. She said she bothered him so much about getting the bridge […]
Despite surgery and recovery, the hardest part is two soldiers who saved his life in a Tal Afar battle never made it back home This is the first in a two-part series. The first part profiles Jeremy Wolfsteller’s combat experience in the Iraq War, and […]
By Tommy Johnson I attended an appeal at the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority Tuesday, Dec. 3, on behalf of the child of a combat veteran and his fiancé. The first signs that the hearing was not going to go well were when the hearing officer […]
By Tim Engstrom Tom Mullon recalls working at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Manhattan early in his career and coordinating a meeting of 100 or so Vietnam veterans with hospital leaders. One by one, the veterans told stories reflecting “the need for the VA to […]
Greetings, Minnesota American Legion Family. The ceremony for the 100th convention plaque dedication was held in Minneapolis at Peavey Plaza on Nicollet Mall Saturday, Dec. 7. The first American Legion National Convention was held in Minneapolis in 1919 and the 100th convention was held in […]
Dr. Meghan Press will be formally honored in March in D.C. MINNEAPOLIS — American Legion officials in Minnesota recognized a general psychiatrist at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center as the Physician of the Year, not only for the Minnesota but for the entire VA Health […]
MAHNOMEN — Assistant Attorney General Sarah Gillaspey of the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office was on hand at the Fall Conference in October, and she shared the leading ways for nonprofit corporations to get investigated: • Misuse of nonprofit assets.• Related-party transactions.• An absent or detached […]
The American Legion’s 2019 Physician of the Year is a Minnesota doctor. In early November, the headquarters of The American Legion notified the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the Veterans Health Administration, the VA Midwest Health Care Network and the Minneapolis VA Health Care System […]
Legionnaires got to see a side of Al Zdon that they don’t often see. Zdon played the banjo and sang. By Tim Engstrom ANOKA — Past National Commander Dan Ludwig’s first impression of Al Zdon came at the 1996 Fall Conference. Zdon, the former editor […]
MINNEAPOLIS — The American Legion and the city of Minneapolis have a relationship going back for 100 years. That connection is now explained on a plaque at Peavey Plaza, near the corner of Nicollet Avenue and South 11th Street. On Pearl Harbor Day, about 25 […]
INDIANAPOLIS — In the wake of the apparent terrorist attack at Naval Air Station Pensacola, the leader of the nation’s largest veterans organization called for greater scrutiny of all foreign nationals visiting or training at U.S. military installations. “Our hearts break for the victims and […]
U.S. Navy Cmdr. Christopher Kneen, forward-deployed to Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, and Combined Task Force-Horn of Africa, sends a holiday shoutout to friends and family back home in Hastings, Minn. Camp Lemonnier is an operational installation that enables the U.S., allied, and partner nation forces to […]
Anoka Post 102 hosted celebration for 23 years of storytelling
Hutchinson Post 96, Silver Lake Post 141 and other veterans organizations in the community come together for an organization called Saluting Community Heroes; Kyle was speaker at its banquet on Wednesday, Nov. 13 Be sure to read what Taya Kyle said in the next issue […]
Check out the TV coverage of the newest American Legion post in Minnesota: WCCO-4 KMSP-9 KSTP-5
Law requires the POW/MIA Flag to be displayed wherever the U.S. Flag is displayed at prominent federal properties WASHINGTON — The head of the nation’s largest veterans organization thanked President Trump for signing a bipartisan act Friday, Nov. 8., which will require certain prominent federal […]
This story first appeared in the November issue of The Minnesota Legionnaire. The newspaper is free with an American Legion membership or $10 for annual subscription. Call 651-291-1800 to subscribe. By Tim Engstrom, The Minnesota Legionnaire FORT SNELLING — The unorganized territory called Fort Snelling […]