Department Commander Marty Dzieglowicz

99th Convention Selection for Commander of The American Legion, Department of Indiana
 
Marty has proudly served Allied Post 369 in East Chicago, Indiana with
42 years of leadership and dedication as Post Commander, Finance
Officer, Trustee and Delegate.
 
He has also served the First District as a
capable and proficient Vice Commander, Membership Chairman,
Executive Vice Commander and First District Commander. Marty also
served as District Chairman of the POW/MIA Committee for 20 years
and District Boy Scout Chairman for 10 years.
 
Marty has served the Department of Indiana as Northern Vice
Commander, Membership Chairman, Rehabilitation Commission
Chairman, Americanism Commission Chairman and Internal Affairs
Commission Chairman. He has been a member of the Department
Strategic Planning Commission since 2011 which is dedicated to
devising a membership plan that includes implementation of ideas to
gain new members, retain existing members and work for the
betterment of all Legionnaires. Marty has also been Department
POW/MIA Chairman for 15 years.
 
Marty’s eligibility for the American Legion is provided by his service
from 8 September, 1972 through 4 October 1974, having attained the
rank of E‐4 (Specialist 4th Class) during his honorable service in the
United States Army. He served in the Fifth Army, the First Army, and
his last duty station was the Transportation Center of the Army at Fort
Eustis, Virginia.
 
Marty graduated from St. Joseph’s College with a Bachelor of Science
Degree in Accounting and Management, graduated from Indiana
University with a Master’s Degree in Public Administration and received
a Metals Engineering Certificate for Ferrous Metallurgy.
 
Marty has a 100% American Legion Family. He has been married for 42
years to his wife, Rose Ann, who is a member of American Legion
Auxiliary Unit 369 and currently serves the Auxiliary as Department
Historian, and his sons, Josef and Drew, who are members of the Sons
of the American Legion Squadron 369.
 
His motto this year is, “Strength Through Membership.”
 
“We must keep the Legion strong together," said . Dzieglowicz "We have to work together as a team.  As a team we will increase our membership and ensure the Legion’s strength."

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ATTN: Tina Wiseley 
5440 Herbert Lord Rd
Indianapolis, IN 46216

State of the Legion
2016-2017 Cmdr.
James B. May
Hoosier Legionnaires, as my year in office comes to a close, it is my duty to report to you the State of the Legion.
 
Before I get started, I’d like to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for the opportunity to serve as your Department Commander. The hospitality of our blue cap Legionnaires has been second to none in posts and districts across the state from Evansville to Gary, Terre Haute to Richmond.
 
Our blue cappers are the lifeblood of this organization and your support means all of the difference in our success. And so, on behalf of my lovely wife Marsha and me, and on behalf of all of our Department officers, thank you.
 
To our Auxiliary President, Peggy Bishop, and our SAL Detachment Commander, Joe Schultis, thank you for all of the hard work and dedication you and your teams give for our nation’s veterans and their families.
 
The relationships among our Legion Family here in Indiana have grown stronger as we continue to work with one another …rather than against -- one another.
 
I want to thank my bride of 34 years, Marsha, for her commitment as First Lady of The American Legion, Department of Indiana this past year.  As many of you know, Marsha has had heartache, health issues and challenges this year – and through it all she has been a selfless and consistent source of strength and encouragement to me. I could not – I would not – have done it without her.
 
Thank you, Sweetheart, for your unwavering support throughout my entire Legion career. You’ve always been there for me, encouraged me and helped give me the strength to serve our wartime veterans a duty I am proud to share with all my fellow Legionnaires.
 
And finally, I want to thank the members of the Department staff for their time and counsel in our endeavors this past year. Our small staff of full-time professionals work behind the scenes to keep the gears turning for more than 77,000 Legionnaires in our organization. 
 
And of course, as is true of every Legionnaire who has worn this white cap, I stand here as Department Commander because of the encouragement, mentoring, and friendship of countless Legionnaires in the Seventh District and Burton Woolery  American Legion Post 18. If I tried to name them all, we would be here all night. You know who you are. Thank you.
 
Now it is my honor and my duty to report to you the State of our Legion. We’ve made historic strides this year, forged new partnerships and built on the foundations laid by my predecessor, Department Commander Larry Lowry.
 
I believe this has been a remarkable year for the Department of Indiana – and for all Hoosier veterans, whether they are members or not.  Let me just list a few of the accomplishments that marked this year:
 
We reestablished mutual support network among Indiana’s major Veterans Service Organizations … by reestablishing and revitalizing what some call the “Big Four.”  Because of it, Indiana’s veterans today are better represented in the Indiana General Assembly than they have been for decades.
 
We obtained from the State of Indiana a commitment of $200,000 a year to support our veterans service office – the first increase in 63 years, and nearly seven times the amount we thought we would receive after leaving the old Department headquarters.
 
We established a unique financial assistance program for veterans, providing short-term emergency help without regard to family circumstances or dependents. The Indiana Veterans Emergency Transition System has already received 21 grant requests. Of them, 14 are pending totaling $9,243.62 and 7 have been distributed totaling $3,051.33. The Department has the resources to do even more as the fund grows – and it grows because of the commitment and generosity of you.
 
We partnered with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to give our members an opportunity to volunteer at the Greatest Spectacle in Racing and earn contributions to IVETS – an initiative that is now being repeated at the Indiana State Fair.

We launched a unique targeted legislative contact program that allows our members to generate, almost instantly, a message sent directly to their state and federal legislators – a program that already has generated more than 22,000 direct contacts in the Statehouse and Congress.
 
We, alone of all Veterans Service Organizations in Indiana, lent our support to the call for additional research into the health benefits of marijuana – medical cannabis – at a time when the easy thing to do would have been to stand on the sidelines.
 
We contribute more to Operation Comfort Warrior than any other department in the organization.
 
Our presence on the internet – our webpage, facebook and other social media – receives the attention of countless thousands of interested visitors each day.
 
Ladies and gentlemen, although we don’t see the harvest today, I am convinced that the seeds of relevance and reputation that we sowed this season will bear fruit very soon.
 
And internally, the restive spirit of innovation and change is stirring:
 
We are launching the first ever Law Enforcement Cadet Training Program, in cooperation with the Indiana Sheriff’s Association.
 
We have revamped our program of recognition for the state’s military personnel, first responders, educators, and employers – the evidence for which you saw earlier today.
 
We launched the first Department Officer’s Retreat to thank our leaders for their unselfish service and to help them better prepare for their responsibilities.
 
And we are working to expand the first-ever Indiana-based American Legion College, launched successful under the watchful leadership of the 11th District.
 
Ladies and gentlemen… Baseball great Yogi Berra once said, “It ain’t braggin’ if ya done it.”
 
Well, we ain’t braggin’. We Change Lives.
 
When we adopted that branding slogan we understood that it would ring hollow if we could not answer the question, “Oh, yeah? How?”
I think what I just recited to you answers that question better than anything.
 
The Department of Indiana has gained national recognition in our communications endeavors as of late. We’ve modernized and changed the way we communicate both internally to our fellow Legionnaires, but externally as well. Our message, “We Change Lives,” has reached more people this year than ever before.
 
As membership continues to decline on a national level, the determining factor in the outcome of our organization lays solely on relevance.
 
We must remain relevant to our veterans, their families and our communities. Our mission has remained unchanged for 99 years. Our nation’s veterans need our assistance now just as they did when returning from the battle field horrors of WWI.
 
Unemployment, homelessness and illness due to wounds both physical and spiritual result in suicide rates averaging higher than 20 veterans a day. And, while the wait for VA benefits claims decisions are back down to a manageable level, the appeals process still takes years to complete.
 
The effects of the Global War on Terror will continue to effect the children and families of our veterans for years to come.
 
Today, we stand to be more relevant than ever, because WE CHANGE LIVES. The good work and efforts of our volunteers throughout the entire Hoosier Legion Family strengthens and enriches the lives of our veterans and their families in communities across the state of Indiana.
 
As I step aside and put on again the blue American Legion cap, I do so as a proud Past Department Commander and an excited and optimistic Legionnaire.  We are on the threshold of great things and I am looking forward to continuing to be a part of it.
 
In closing, let me quote from Winston Churchill – whose mother was a Hoosier by the way – who said after the brutal battering by the German Air Force in the Battle of Britain finally was pushed back:
 
“It is not the end… It is not beginning of the end. But it is the end of the beginning.”

Prophetic words, those, that describe where we stand today.  Challenges remain, hard work is ahead of us, but I success is assured. Our newly elected leadership will see to that, with your support and the continuing favor of God Almighty.