Mike Etzel Elected as the 102nd Department of Iowa Commander

A Marion resident has spent most of his adult life in public service, both as a United States Marine and as a Marion firefighter. So it was only natural for him to say "yes" when asked to be the new American Legion Department of Iowa Commander.

Mike Etzel, 65, was nominated for the volunteer position by the Marion American Legion Post 298, the county and the district. All three endorsements are necessary, and the overall process took about two years, he said.

Etzel was subsequently chosen to be the 102nd Department Commander serving Iowa during an American Legion 99th annual three-day convention on Sunday, July 23, in Des Moines. His term will last one year and will end in July of 2018 at a convention in Waterloo, when a new Commander will be appointed.

According to legion.org, the American Legion was chartered by Congress on September 16, 1919 in the wake of the "Great War," and is "organized into 55 departments, with one operating in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, France, Mexico and the Philippines."

Etzel said the American Legion was formed in order to make sure injured-in-wartime Veterans received proper healthcare and wartime Veterans can belong to the American Legion, no matter how or where they served. Veterans with PTSD and disabilities resulting from war need proper care. "Most doctors do not know how to treat war injuries like the VA doctors do. This is why we push for the VA to take care of them," he added.

As the Iowa Department Commander, Etzel will represent the State of Iowa in Washington, D.C. He said the American Legion is a non-political organization supporting Veterans at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). "We monitor them closely and make sure Veterans receive the GI Bill -- The American Legion wrote the GI Bill," Etzel said.