County veterans' service to their community never ends
From left are Jim Palmgren, Dan Arnsan and Ken Quitt, three Mineral County veterans who worked to take apart a wheelchair ramp for a fellow vet who was moving. (Monte Turner/Mineral Independent)
When the call from a disabled Marine came to the Veterans of Foreign Wars Lloyd Ridings Post 6238 in Superior in need of a favor, three men snapped into action.
Dan Arnsan, a former Marine, Ken Quitt and Jim Palmgren, both Army veterans, answered the call.
The VFW and its Auxiliary are dedicated to veterans’ service, legislative advocacy, along with military and community service programs so helping a local vet is in their DNA.
The disabled veteran had a 48-foot aluminum wheelchair ramp that needed to be disassembled and transferred to a new home that he and his wife had just purchased.
With wrenches, impacts and socket sets, the trio spent the better part of a beautiful day taking the ramp apart, piece by piece, and loading it onto a flatbed trailer.
The three men also received encouragement with some refreshments from the vet’s wife and their dogs provided the entertainment during the project.
Fortunately, this veteran no longer needs the ramp that the VA had purchased and would like to donate it to another veteran who requires one. The VA will pay for the assembly of the structure.
The VFW was founded in 1914 and is a national volunteer service organization. There are more than 6,000 posts worldwide which include all 50 states, the Asia/Pacific areas and Europe.
Post 6238 is very visible in Mineral County during parades with their Color Guard and at military burials in the cemeteries.
When a veteran’s headstone is leaning or has fallen over, Post 6238 members will reset it at the Quartz and Superior cemeteries.
They give American flags out to all third graders at all three schools and donate money to Women in Timber for the Christmas Baskets.
Whhen the Missoula Children’s Theater comes to spend a week working with a group of students to make a production, Post 6238 is one of the first to open their wallet to help with the costs.
They served their country honorably and continue their service by helping our community.