DuPage looks to improve veterans' services

Looking to ensure DuPage is doing enough for its military veterans, the county board has created a special committee to study program and benefit coordination among veterans organizations.

Board member and former Marine Dirk Enger was named chairman of the panel, while board colleagues Kyle Gilgis and John Zediker were also tapped for the committee assignment by Chairman Bob Schillerstrom.

"We owe it to our veterans to ensure they are receiving the services they require," Schillerstrom said.

Enger said the committee will meet with leaders from the 20 active veterans organizations in the county, which includes VFW and American Legion posts.

"We want to get their input and find out if they know what's available from the county," Enger said.

The committee also will assess the effectiveness of the county's own Veterans Assistance Commission. The commission is funded by the county, but its operation does not come under the county board's authority.

The commission has its own guidelines and is overseen by a separate board of directors.

"I can see this committee as a benefit," veterans commission Superintendent Joseph Craig said. "We're always trying to coordinate and get a little more done for our veterans."

Craig said the commission's relationship with the county always has been positive, unlike in some other areas where commissions have to fight county boards for funding.

But while the commission's offices are located at the county's administration building in Wheaton, there are boundaries between the commission and county set up by federal and state regulations, he said.

"DuPage has been very good to us and supportive of us," he said. "We've been able to do more than other veterans assistance commissions because of the generosity of the county."

While the study will focus on veterans' needs, the committee also may dabble in the availability of programs for families of deployed servicemen and women and families of troops killed in action. The committee is expected to report its findings to the board's Health and Human Services committee by Aug. 25.

Gilgis, whose only son was recently deployed, said Americans need to be more aware of the needs of veterans and their families.

"My heart goes out to the veterans who need assistance and any way we can make life easier in their transition from military life to civilian life is certainly of interest to me," she said. "I think the only time we're really aware of those needs is when we lose one of our brave men or women, then it really hits home."