The Chapter 14 DAV in Crookston has recently appointed Dennis Boucher (McIntosh) as the District Commander. The DAV (Disabled American Veterans) was created in 1920 by World War I veterans for disabled military veterans to help them and their families through various needs.
Boucher, a Vietnam veteran, served from 1968-1970 following his high school graduation and served in the United States Army as a Cannoneer, otherwise known as a “Gun bunny.” It didn’t take long within his service to experience what Boucher described as a “warzone”.
“We were just landing in Vietnam, and the pilot was nervous,” said Boucher, “He instructed us to exit the plane immediately, we we’re all thinking ‘what’s the matter with him?’, and we got out of the plane, and all you could hear was ‘ping, ping,’ and when we landed, we had to sets of containers to protect the plane, and we were getting shot at. As soon as we got out, the pilot was gone. How could you blame him?”
Boucher also encountered an attack late one evening, after finishing his shift on radio duty, before going to bed in the trenches. When the direct hit was over, Boucher found he was the only one alive from his gun section.
“We had a direct hit one morning, and it took everyone out; the only thing that saved my can was I was on guard duty,” said Boucher, “When you got off duty in the morning, you slept in ditches. The gun was firing right over the top of me, and actually, when you’re close enough, you can’t hear it. Everybody was down when I got up, and the other gun section came to help.”
When talking about his time in the military, Boucher expressed that the military was and is still crucial in young people’s growing development. Like many other veterans, he said those experiences have carried with him for the rest of his life, and many young Americans could benefit by serving.
Military veteran and Polk County Veterans Services Officer Kurt Ellefson reached out to Boucher for help regarding the DAV and ultimately recommended he be appointed as District Commander. “I bounce everything off of him (Ellefson); he asked if I could take his position,” said Boucher, “And I thought about it for a while, and he said we could lose our chapter if we don’t put someone in charge, and so I took it.”
The Chapter 14 DAV donates thousands of dollars in funds to local veterans and families in need each year. They also help fund the Honor Flight, where veterans are selected each year for a free trip to the capital in Washington, D.C.
