Underage Veterans group names Litchfield, Minn., man state commander

LITCHFIELD -- Bruce Cottington of Litchfield has been appointed state commander of the Minnesota chapter of the national Veterans of Underage Military Service. National Commander Dr. William C. Morgan of Galloway, Ohio, made the appointment.

Veterans of Underage Military Service is an organization whose members were sworn into a branch of the U.S. armed forces before reaching the age of 17 for men, and age 20 for women, prior to 1948. Cottington was 16 when he joined the U.S. Navy.

Morgan says Cottington has a wealth of military history as well as information about veterans' organizations in general, and is a long-standing Veterans of Underage Military Service member. Morgan said the recent state commander was moved to an assisted living center.

"As such, we needed someone to fill the vacancy,'' Morgan said. "There was no question as to who should be the state commander of Minnesota and that was Bruce Cottington.''

The date of the assignment was Nov. 1 and is an indefinite assignment unless problems arise, said Morgan.

Morgan said Cottington's military story is told well in one of the history books written about the Veterans of Underage Military Service.