September has been a significant month for Veterans, not only in Minnesota, but nationwide. The passing of General John (Jack) Vessey was felt by Veterans nationwide. He enlisted in Minnesota as a Private, received a battlefield commission in WWII and rose to our highest military position, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS). As CJCS under President Reagan, he lifted our military up from the dark days following Vietnam to the undisputed strongest military in the world. A fond memory I have of Gen. Vessey, was when he visited my office prior to traveling to California. He was asking if there were any issues that we were facing in Minnesota relative to our deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. As we talked he would periodically take out a 3 x 5 notecard, jot a little note on it when put it back in his coat pocket. A couple of weeks later I would get a call from Defense Secretary Rumsfeld’s office wanting to know more about Gen. Vessey’s concerns and how they could help resolve them. His caring for the soldier and respect of senior military leadership was always evident. He will be missed!

Veterans also lost another noted Veteran just recently, Arnie Palmer.  Palmer, considered as one of the greatest golfers of all-time, credited his military service in helping him at a time where he needed some direction and has been vocal in wishing more Americans would join the military. He is quoted as saying “the knowledge I gained, the maturity that I gained in the Coast Guard matured me. It made me a better person for the world and I believe that in my own right.”

September is also the month for the annual County Veterans Service Officer (CVSO) conference, held in northern Minnesota, as well as welcoming the new Commander’s Task Force (CTF) Commanders. This year the CTF Leadership Conference was held at Camp Ripley. As always, I have been impressed with the intensity and sincerity of the Commanders and commitment to serving our Veterans all across the State of Minnesota. The Commanders Task Force is truly my Board of Directors in moving this agency forward in caring for all Veterans within Minnesota. I’m looking forward to an exciting and productive year working along their side.

As I’m writing this I am also preparing thoughts on what to say as we retire the colors of our Ex-POW Veterans organization within Minnesota. While the organization will continue informally, they will no longer hold their annual conference. Their numbers have steadily gotten smaller as the ‘greatest generation’ has aged.  A memory I will never forget was during my first visit to one of their conferences.  As we were waiting for the program to start I went to three different tables to introduce myself.  As I talked to the Ex-POWs I reflected that three different books could have been written based on their individual experiences and how they dealt with those experiences, both during and after captivity.

When looking forward to the upcoming months, I am sensing a quieter year for our Department, at least initially until the elections are over. We are in a stable position as most of our major initiatives have been settled and in the funding stream. This enables us to focus on our primary mission of caring for Veterans. The major concerns going forward are ensuring that we care for our Veterans and provide them the benefits and services they have earned. So what’s on my radar screen? I’m also sensing that our newest generation of Veterans (OIF/OEF) are experiencing some similarities to those of the Vietnam Era. While, thankfully, the reaction to them returning home has been opposite to the protests of Vietnam, the ‘10 years look back’ shows something seemingly worse. I believe our newest generation of Veterans will ask one of two questions – “why didn’t we finish it?” or “why were we there in the first place?” It is important that we stay in tune with the perspective of currently serving and recently separated Veterans so we can provide relevant care and services. More on this topic in the coming months.