Dan Mills, 1st District Commander

Article by: Dan Mills, 1st District Commander

​Greetings from the 1st District and welcome to the dog days of Summer.

Before I get too far into this article, I would like to Honor one of our Riders from Post 17 who lost his life while returning home from the last Rolling Thunder ride to Washington DC.  Greg Paz was an exceptional legion member.  He will be missed.

There is a lot of good news coming down the pipeline.  The inclusion of the blue water Navy for the treatment from exposure of agent orange and the elimination of date requirements for legion membership.   
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The 1st District had 25 Delegates who attended the American Legion Hoosier Boys State program at Trine University in Angola, Indiana.  A week-long program to help shape young men to become future leaders, and the understanding of how our government works.  This year the 1st District had two young men who stood out amongst the rest.  George Dimopolous and Kathir Venkat, both were Juniors from Munster High school.     Kathir was elected as Lieutenant Governor of Boys State, and George was voted as the Outstanding Citizen of Hoosier Boys State.  George went on to Boys Nation held in Washington DC.  Congratulations to both of these young men for their outstanding achievements.   Thanks go to John Sarnecki  Sr. the committee chairman for his hard work in making this program such a success.

This year American Legion Eagle Scout of the year was awarded to Kenny Stone from the 1st District sponsored by Post 369.  Congratulation to Kenny for his hard work.  Achieving the rank of Eagle Scout is no small task. 

From Post 100 the teacher of the year was awarded to James Wiltshire a   Notre Dame graduate and a retired Navy Captain.   Good work Post 100 for getting out there and finding a teacher such as Mr. Wiltshire, not only is he a well  respected teacher. But he’s a veteran. 
I’m looking forward to working with Commander Connelly and his staff in the upcoming year. 
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We will be headed out to Indianapolis in a few days to attend the National membership workshop. Aug 8th, 9th and 10. Then comes the National Convention Aug 24th thru the 29th.   It looks like it’s going to be a busy month. 
 
I hope I can keep up the good works of our past District Commanders and make this a great year. 

​Thank you for your support. God Bless you, and God Bless the American Legion!

Click HERE to download Command Photo