“Man it was a tough one, those guys are all really good,” Powers said of the three nominees. “Mark was the guy who fit with the rest of them the best. Anyone of those guys would be great, it just really came down to I thought Mark was the best fit.”
Applegate, 75, was on active duty with the Army from 1967 through 1969 and served in Vietnam. He has been very active with the VFW as chairman of the memorial paver committee, membership coordinator, liaison for the Honor Flight Tri-State, member of the Color Guard, a fund-raising team leader and more. Joining the vet board is the next step in his desire to help veterans.
“I believe it is a chance for me to expand my involvement with veterans and help those veterans in Butler County,” he told the Journal-News. “I’m really passionate about service to veterans and anything I can do to make sure they get the benefits and the assistance they need to help them along is my main focus.”
Often confused with the Veterans Administration, the independent board is charged with helping vets navigate the Veterans Administration system to get medical help and other services, arranging and paying for transportation to medical appointments and finding local services for everything from legal issues to marriage counseling.
The BCVSC is responsible for helping about 22,000 veterans using a slice of the county’s general fund. The board just approved a $3.35 million budget for 2023, and Applegate said his experience as a supervisor for the quality management group at Fujitec America, Inc. will be an asset in his new role.
“My background is in purchasing and quality management,” Applegate said. “I had about 30 years in purchasing so I have a good feel for spending money and spending it wisely.”
Eriksen resigned in June, a day after the rest of the five-member board voted unanimously to petition for his removal after he failed to regularly attend meetings and meet other obligations. At that time Powers, who appointed Eriksen in January 2021, called the situation a “disappointing hiccup.”
The Journal-News examined meeting minutes since Eriksen was appointed to represent the VFW on the board and found he has attended 11 meetings and was absent from nine, including special meetings. He earned earned $8,868 annually and was expected to attend trainings and participate in other board activities to help veterans.
Powers said Eriksen wanted to do the job but was just stretched too thin because he still works fulltime, “it’s not just their monthly meetings it’s a lot more than that, those guys are really actively involved in how things operate and that’s good, we’re lucky to have that. It’s a whole lot different than five or six years ago.”
He said the fact Applegate is retired “was a pretty compelling reason” to choose him but he also “brings an enlisted man’s perspective, that’s part of it, because most of the guys you’re going to be dealing with are enlisted guys, he’s a guy I think can get down on their level.”
Applegate lost his wife of 54 years in 2021 and they have four children. He said he is ready and willing to put in the time for whatever the board needs and he never commits to something “that I don’t go into full bore.”
“That’s always been one of my strong suits,” Applegate said. “If I commit to something I’m going to do it. I think commitment is just crucial, anything you say you’re going to do, you’ve got to do it.”
Commissioner Chuck Weber is also from the VFW post in West Chester, he holds the at-large seat on the board. The board is represented by one member from The American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), Disabled American Veterans (DAV) and AMVETS and the at-large seat.
He said Applegate was a good choice.
“He is a very focused and serious guy, he’s hard working, he has demonstrated to his Post what a hard and dedicated worker he is, and he definitely is” Weber said. “He’s a serious guy and I think eventually can be president or vice president of commission. Those are the kind of people we need to bring into the mainstream.”
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