Greene County was honored as the one of the stops for one of American Legion’s vice-commanders yesterday.
Paul Sanford is an Army veteran and the national vice-commander of the American Legion for the Midwest region. He visited several locations through the county as part of his trip of visiting places that have veterans and promoting membership.
Sanford went to American Athletic Incorporated, Spalding and Russell Athletic facility, Regency Park Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and the Mahanay Bell Tower all in Jefferson before stopping at the John Deere manufacturing plant in Paton. At every location, Sanford visited with veterans and toured all the facilities.
After his tour of AAI, Sanford told Raccoon Valley Radio what thinks of the Home Base Iowa program that helps bring military veterans to the state for jobs.
“I think this is absolutely awesome. We’re continually pushing to get the veterans work preference and so forth because a lot of states are doing away with that and Iowa is apparently on the bandwagon of pursuing and continuing that process.”
In March, Greene County was proclaimed as the first county in Iowa as a Home Base Iowa community. Greene County led the way to show its support for Governor Terry Branstad’s initiative.
Sanford started his six-day trip across Iowa on Monday.