The All-American Post Led by the All-American Man

When Art Widhalm finished his 30-year career in the Air Force – which included time in Vietnam – he knew that he wanted to help improve the lives of military members still in uniform and the lives of veterans alike. It was that drive that led him to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and that drive ultimately made him a commander at the Fort Peck VFW Post 3107 in 2000. It was again that motivation that made him stay in the position until 2010, then bumped him up to State Commander in 2014, and then returned him to the post commander spot in 2015, which he has held ever since. During those years he also served as the District Commander for all of Northeast Montana's District 6.

Those tours of service have undoubtedly kept the VFW in Glasgow vibrant and working hard for veterans, promoting patriotism and helping the community. One of the commander's charges is to grow recruitment, engage the community through fundraising and outreach, provide local scholarships, promote essay contests and recognize outstanding public servants. Due to the efforts of Post 3107 in accomplishing those missions, the post was awarded the honor of being an All-American Post for those charters with membership between 250 and 350 veterans. That means they beat out enough posts to make it into the top 50 posts, in their division, nationwide.

Being All-American means they not only performed the basic functions of the organization, but they also participated in the two essay contest – Voices of Democracy and Patriot's Pen – that seek essays on what it means to be a citizen and a patriot from high school and middle school students in the county. They also recognized the efforts of law enforcement officers, Boy Scouts, teachers, paramedics and firefighters for their exceptional service to their communities. This year not only did Post 3107 recognize some amazing area civil servants, those awardees also swept the VFW State Awards for all of Montana. Another requirement to achieve All-American status includes distributing buddy poppies in exchange for donations to help with veteran relief services – the funds raised from poppies stay local and are used to help veterans with unexpected expenses such as those incurred from health care or the loss of a loved one.

The other requirement is membership recruitment and retention. Each year the post is expected to not only maintain their membership, but to expand it. Membership gives the VFW a larger voice when they lobby and petition state and national representatives to honor their commitments to veterans and to maintain and improve those services such as the Veterans' Affairs Medical Services. This year Post 3107 went from 248 members to 285.

"That's really the bottom line that makes the difference," explained Widhalm discussing the membership efforts of the post. He credited the post with working hard to bring in new members and make the membership mission a reality. "It was really a post effort there, that's what made it possible."

This year, 2019, was unique according to Widhalm, the nationwide push to improve membership and bolster the ranks led to some fierce competition as 13 other posts in the state achieved All-American status, including the district and the Montana Department of the VFW as well. Widhalm said that made the award all the more rewarding as hundreds of posts competed to take home the honor.

"This year actually made it a lot more difficult," said Widhalm. "That's because of the push to reach 100 percent at national." That push paid off as the national organization made 100 percent membership retention for the first time since the early '90's.

The icing on the cake for the accomplishment for Widhalm was that he earned his Triple Crown pin from the National Commander-in-Chief of the VFW. A Triple Crown means that he has commanded not only an All-American Post, but that he was also commanded an All-American District and an All-American State Department – both of which he earned while serving as the District 6 commander and as the State commander in 2014 to 2015.

Widhalm expressed his gratitude for the award and his humility. "It really was a team effort, I can't stress that enough," exclaimed Widhalm. All the same he was proud to have earned the accomplishment. "There were only 11 people in the country that made triple crown this year." Usually there are only two or three explained Widhalm but with the national membership push, this year was a unique case.

"It's just kind of an unique thing to think about," said the long-time commander. "I never even thought it was possible, and this was the first year we had ever had a reasonable chance to make it. It's not even clear if Montana has ever had a triple crown winner for the VFW and this year there were two."

Widhalm stressed again the team effort that went into accomplishing the post's All-American status, but he also cited the community support. "That's one of the things that helps us, is the community supports us and sees what we do," stated Widhalm citing the nominations, and the generosity of the community during fundraising.

The post commander also pointed to the post's activities in the community. He cited the scholarships, the public servant awards, the Memorial and Veteran's Day celebrations, the poppy fundraisers, the letting organizations use the VFW Hall free of charge for fundraisers and benefits, and he pointed to the organization's care for vets, both living and deceased. Each year the group plants flags on the grave markers of very veteran buried at the Glasgow Cemetery and each year they help veterans and their families when they need it most.

It is those efforts and accomplishments by the post that have helped Widhalm fulfill his goal of helping veterans, and after almost as much time in the VFW as he has in uniform he has the deeds to back that up.

"After 30 years in uniform, I knew I wanted to help make things better for those in the military, but also for our vets," explained Widhalm. "And, ever since that's what I've tried to do, for them and for our community."