BJ Legion hosts national commander
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
American Legion National Commander Dale Barnett addresses area Legionnaires Sunday afternoon at the Rolla Dicks Post 315 Legion hall in Burlington Junction. Barnett praised the dedication of rank-and-file Legion members to serving their communities, and said the Legion is working to guarantee better lives for veterans by creating more opportunities for education, employment, and medical care.
Veterans from several northwest Missouri communities gathered Sunday afternoon in the Rolla Dicks Post 315 Legion hall and community center in Burlington Junction to welcome the Legion’s national commander, Dale Barnett.
Barnett, who graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1974 before serving 22 years as a commissioned officer and retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 1996, now lives in Fayetteville, Georgia, where he had a successful career as a high school history teacher and coach after leaving the military.
The national commander was in Burlington Junction as part of a five-day tour of American Legion posts in Kansas City and northwest Missouri that on Sunday alone included additional stops in Smithville, Cameron, Conception Junction, and Savannah.
Barnett’s swing through Missouri was part of an extended tour as commander that will take him to all 50 states and 12 countries. Worldwide the Legion comprises more than 2 million members belonging to 13,000 posts.
Barnett arrived in Burlington Junction riding in a motorcade that included three maroon vans filled with other Legion dignitaries and 15 black-clad motorcyclists from the Legion Riders of Post 287 in Savannah.
He told a crowd of about 50 assembled Legionnaires and their wives that he was happy to be speaking to veterans in “small-town America,” and congratulated local post members on their commitment to serving their community.
He specifically mentioned the year-long effort to construct a new Legion hall and community center in Burlington Junction after the longtime post headquarters collapsed in 2013.
“Your community depends on your leadership, your judgment, and your love of your community,” Barnett said, praising local Legion initiatives that provide young people with scholarships and opportunities to attend citizenship development programs like Boys State.
Barnett also reported on the Legion’s activities at the national level, specifically with regard to efforts related to improving medical care available through U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals and legislation benefitting veterans and their families with a focus on jobs and education.
As national commander, Barnett said, he frequently meets with governors and state and federal lawmakers and seeks to convince them of the importance of supporting both veterans and serving members of the military.
Most politicians, he said, are anxious to hear what the Legion has to say.
“They know that we are telling them what they need to hear,” Barnett said. “It may not be what they want to hear, but it’s what they need to hear. … We are the voice of America.”
