T-R PHOTOS BY ROBERT MAHARRY American Legion National Vice Commander Jerry Landkamer, right, of Norfolk, Neb., addresses members of Charles Horton Post 739 inside the Malloy LRC during a visit to the Iowa Veterans Home on Tuesday morning.

Jerry Landkamer, a Navy veteran from Norfolk, Neb., now serves as the national vice commander of the American Legion, and he stopped by the Iowa Veterans Home on Tuesday morning to learn more about the facility and visit with members of the Charles Horton Legion Post 739 inside the Malloy Leisure Resource Center (LRC) about issues they are currently facing, most of which pertained to benefit claims and appeals.

As he started his tour and made his way over to the IVH library, it was noted that Landkamer was serving in Vietnam during the evacuation of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War, which is especially meaningful locally as Marshalltown’s own Darwin Judge was one of the last two casualties of the conflict. Unlike in Iowa, there are four separate veterans homes in Nebraska, but Landkamer shared that he was impressed with the operation in Marshalltown.

Landkamer recounted a recent legislative advocacy trip to Washington, D.C. and efforts to encourage further research into medical marijuana for veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and secure additional benefits for those dealing with the long-term effects of Agent Orange and burn pit exposure. The Legion itself helped to write and push for the legislation that ultimately became the GI Bill.

With Post 739 Commander Fred Oster moderating, Landkamer fielded several questions about veteran benefits and disability classification changes, and residents were encouraged to contact both their county level Veteran Services Officers (VSOs) as well as those who work specifically with the American Legion. Oster joked that Commandant Todd Jacobus was “texting like a 16-year-old girl” getting to work on various benefits questions and contacting the right people to ensure they are secured.

As the tour wound down, Landkamer, who served in the Navy from 1973 to 1975 and then moved to Reserves until 1981, spoke to the T-R about his impressions of IVH and his various travels around the globe during his military tenure.

“This is a wonderful facility. It’s just unbelievable what they have for the veterans. I feel that the veterans who are living here, members of this veterans home, have a wonderful facility. They’ve got talented individuals and top notch care from everyone,” he said.

Landkamer praised the service officers within the Legion who work with veterans, and he also offered the Legion’s unwavering support for the soldiers now involved in the new military conflict with Iran.

“The first thing that everybody needs to understand right now is no matter what’s going on overseas, first and foremost, our American Legion family stands 100 percent behind our military in support of them. We have a lot of programs in place and so forth, so they’ll be taken care of,” he said.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.