County commander feels C-S American Legion Post
is important to community
is important to community
By Bruce Rolfe
A county commander that oversees five American Legion Posts in Kalamazoo County including the Climax-Scotts American Legion Post #465, and who and was recently inducted into the ROTC National Hall of Fame, views American Legion Posts throughout Kalamazoo County as “very important.” Kalamazoo County Commander Lt. Col. (Ret.) Dan Bement was inducted into the ROTC National Hall of Fame October 14 in Washington, D.C. at the Association of the United States Army National Meeting.
He oversees five posts in Kalamazoo County, which is part of the 3rd District.
“The American Legion, which was founded in 1919, has four pillars that guide the Legion. We like to take care of our veterans when they come home. So we have programs to take care of veterans and their family. We have programs for children and youth. Other programs include national security and Americanism. These are types of programs our money goes toward. They’re implemented through the Post,” explained Bement.
“The Climax-Scotts American Legion, I think is pretty important to Climax. They have a kitchen open several nights a week that provides dinner and Saturday breakfasts for the public. They rent the building out for different functions that the community might need for assistance,” said Bement.
The Hunters Banquet, that was held November 2, is another big event at the local legion put on by the Sons of The American Legion. The Sons of the American Legion will also be sponsoring a Veteran’s Day dinner November 12 at 5 p.m. where Veterans can eat for free.
Bement said the Auxiliary is also an integral part of the local Legion Post.
“Climax, being a small town, I’m quite proud of them (C-S Post #465) because they have a very active auxiliary, they have a very effective Sons of the American Legion program, a very active American Legion Post and they’re starting to develop a very active American Legion Riders Club, which are motorcycles that are used to escort funerals and other funding programs,” points out Bement.
Bement was a student at Western Michigan University and went through the university’s ROTC (Reservice Officers Training Corp) program. He graduated from the program in 1966 as a distinguished military graduate, a status he said only about 10 percent attain.
Bement said he received a call in July to see if he would allow WMU to nominate him for possible induction in the Hall of Fame, which he said is very competitive.
He submitted a resumé of his military and civilian career and was surprised to learn he was selected.
“It’s a very high honor. It’s limited to cadets that were commissioned Army officers through the ROTC program at various universities around the country,” said Bement, who said in August he was notified that he was selected.
He was commissioned in 1966 and retired in 1995.
His initial assignment was to West Berlin. He had combat experience and other experiences around the country, Europe and Asia. His prominent combat assignment was as a senior Battalion Advisor to the South Vietnamese Army during the Vietnam War.
After Berlin, he attended the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare School where he underwent specialized training to be an advisor to the South Vietnamese 3rd battalion, 45th regiment, 23rd division, South Vietnamese Army.
After Vietnam, Bement commanded an armor company, was a battalion operations officer as a major, and he was an intelligence officer with an infantry brigade. He was then assigned to West Point for three years. Bement was assigned to the Marine Corp for three years working as the operations officer for planning and exercise brigade. He was then assigned to the 85th division (MEC) where he was deputy chief, acting chief of staff and for a short period of time in charge of a simulation branch at Fort Sheridan. The mission was to train Battalions that were being deployed to Iraq.
In his civilian career he worked for the Defense Civil Preparedness Agency housed regionally in the Federal Center in Battle Creek. He then worked in the Federal Emergency Management Agency when it was a separate agency. The Federal Preparedness Administration and the Disaster Assistance Administration were two other agencies added into FEMA. After 9-1-1, FEMA became part of the Department of Homeland Security. He was involved in the Three Mile Island disaster response, Katrina response, Sept. 1, 2001 (World Trade Center attack) response, along with numerous floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes around the country.
According to the armyrotc.army.mil website, the Army ROTC Hall of Fame was established in 2016 as part of the ROTC Centennial celebration. The first class (2016) inducted 326 former ROTC Cadets who had distinguished themselves in their military or civilian career.
The website adds the Hall of Fame honors graduates of the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps who have distinguished themselves in military or civilian pursuits. It provides a prestigious and tangible means of recognizing and honoring Army ROTC Alumni who have made lasting, significant contributions to the Nation, the Army and the history and traditions of the Army ROTC Program.
Bement, who was nominated for Kalamazoo County Veteran of the Year, will be one four veterans who will be presented the Outstanding Veteran of the Year Award at a ceremony later this year.
Besides being a member of the Joseph B. Westnedge American Legion Post #36, Bement is also a member of the 40&8, located in the local American Legion Post, Disabled American Veterans out of Battle Creek, and the ROTC Alumni Association at WMU.
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