Peterson named Veteran of the Year
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-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Jim Peterson, left, of Gowrie, receives the Veteran of the Year Award from Tom Dorsey, commandant of the Fort Dodge Veterans Council, Monday during the Memorial Day service at Terry Moehnke Veterans Memorial Park.
-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Jim Peterson, left, of Gowrie, receives the Veteran of the Year Award from Tom Dorsey, commandant of the Fort Dodge Veterans Council, Monday during the Memorial Day service at Terry Moehnke Veterans Memorial Park.
An Army veteran from Gowrie who was once the state leader of the American Legion was honored Monday during the Memorial Day observance at Terry Moehnke Veterans Memorial Park.
Jim Peterson received the Veteran of the Year Award from the Fort Dodge Veterans Council from Tom Dorsey, the commandant of the council.
Peterson was drafted into the Army in 1970 and served in West Germany.
He was discharged in 1973 and immediately joined the Iowa Army National Guard. He served in the National Guard for 16 years, then transferred to the Army Reserve, where he served for 12 years.
In 1990, as a member of the Army Reserve’s 875th Replacement Co., he deployed to the Middle East for Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.
Peterson has been a member of American Legion Post 431 in Gowrie for 54 years. He held every leadership position in the post and is still its finance officer.
He was the commander of the American Legion’s Department of Iowa in 2015-2016.
He is also a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1856.
He was a rural mail carrier and managed a welding business in Gowrie.
Peterson is a volunteer with the Southwest Webster Emergency Medical Service and is a director of the Webster-Calhoun Community Telephone Association, and member of the Webster County Veterans Affairs Commission.
He and his wife, Patty, have two children.
