We applaud the selection of Gary B. Kempker as the new American Legion Post 5 commander.
Kempker has served our community, our state and our nation in various capacities over the past few decades, and this is a natural fit for his talents.
Kempker was installed as commander to the American Legion Post 5 last Tuesday during a ceremony with a social hour followed by a dinner.
He was unanimously voted in as commander earlier this summer and will oversee daily post operations along with a leadership team of fellow elected officers, according to a news release.
Kempker is a U.S. Air Force veteran who has 40 years of experience in law enforcement and corrections.
He quickly moved up the ranks of the Jefferson City Police Department and was named the department's youngest-ever police chief in the mid 1980s. His philosophy of policing was that it takes the support and trust of the community. He implemented a community policing program in which cops walked their beats in some neighborhoods and got to know the people who lived there.
After serving as police chief, he briefly served as Cole County sheriff before being appointed by two governors to serve as the director of both the Department of Corrections and Department of Public Safety. He currently is employed as deputy marshal for the 19th Judicial Court in Cole County.
"Being able to serve my fellow veterans, their families and our community is one of the greatest professional honors I've ever received, and I am truly humbled being entrusted to lead our dedicated and hard-working post volunteers," Kempker said in the release. "For more than a century, Post 5 has been an integral part of giving back to our veterans and our community and we expect to continue that tradition of selflessness for at least the next 100 years."
Kempker has always been a stand-up person, and a forward-thinker who cares about his community and his country.
He and his band, Gary B. and the Kools, regularly entertain at American Legion Post 5. Now Kempker will be a leader in a higher capacity as he assumes control of the state's largest American Legion post.
We're confident he'll do a great job.
News Tribune