First as Post 79 Commander, I would like to thank Nancy Edwards for her service to our Veterans, not only Bremer County, but whoever walked through that door.  Neil Jarnagin will continue that service and hopefully the County Board of Supervisors will continue to provide the staff needed to maintain this service.  I have included a message from Neil that shows what appropriate and dedicated staff can provide for Bremer County, our Veterans and their families.  Please note that in 10 years the benefits went from 1.5 million to 6.8 million, an increase of over 5 million dollars that could be spent locally in Bremer County.  We need a well staffed and dedicated VA office.

From Neil Jarnagin and Bremer County Veterans Affairs

I would like to begin by thanking all of you for your continued support of the Bremer County Veterans Affairs program and giving me your trust to serve as the new Director of Bremer County Veterans Affairs! Nearly ten years ago, Nancy Edwards, our former Administrator, rummaged through some boxes in the courthouse and found what was to become Veterans Affairs. Back then, Nancy worked two hours a week on VA, the annual Bremer County VA budget was just under $18,000 and, county-wide, veterans brought in approximately $1.5 million in VA benefits. Under Nancy’s guidance and the support of the Bremer County Commission on Veterans Affairs and the Board of Supervisors, she increased the VA’s support to two full-time Veteran Service Officers, increased our budget to about $122,000 and increased the amount of VA benefit to our veterans to approximately $6.8 million. Just so you’re reading that clear, we helped increase benefits to our veterans by 353%!!!

For many of us, our struggle is just beginning. As the new Director of Bremer County Veterans Affairs, I would ask each of you to continue to support your local program as we enter the new phase in veteran’s affairs. You’ll find that not much changes in our program and that we’ll continue to be a part of our communities. I would also ask each of you to speak up if you find that what we’re doing is not in the best interest of the veteran or the Bremer County taxpayer. We’ll never know what we’re doing right or wrong if you sit by and let it happen. There are some minor changes that you’ll want to be aware of but otherwise, I doubt you’ll see any huge changes in the coming months.

One thing that you’ll definitely want to update is my e-mail address which is njarnagin@co.bremer.ia.us. Additionally, you’ll want to add my email address to your safe senders list so that you can continue to receive these emails. If you don’t do it now, you may forget later and miss that one particular email you were looking for. For those of you who have received these emails in the past, you understand that they are infrequent and your addresses stay with me.