WILLMAR -- Gary Kurpius, the national senior vice commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, will visit VFW Post 1639 at 3:45 p.m. Saturday in Willmar.
Kurpius, who is from Alaska, will kick off a four-day tour of 15 Minnesota cities on Thursday. He was elected senior vice commander at the VFW's 106th national convention in August and served in the U.S. Army from 1967 to 1969. He is the recipient of the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service medal with four bronze service stars, and the Republic of Vietnam Service Medal.
Kurpius will be briefing the local posts on the grassroots efforts for increasing Veterans Affairs funding, providing sufficient long-term health care to veterans and the work the VFW is doing supporting members of the military, National Guard, reserves, and their families.
