Woman Veteran of the Year
WDVA Secretary Mary Kolar and Governor Tony Evers earlier today announced the 2021 Woman Veteran of the Year. US Army veteran, Lieutenant Colonel Darcie Greuel, was recognized for her volunteer work, service in the US Army Reserve with medical and humanitarian roles, and efforts in developing the Military to VA (M2VA) program in Milwaukee an effort to better serve post-9/11 veterans. Darcie’s life experiences shaped her passion for helping veterans. She saw active military service on humanitarian and medial missions to South America countries, and more recently on past deployments in the early 2000’s in Afghanistan treating American and Coalition forces, as well as humanitarian assistance to the local population there. These vivid defining experiences gave her a calling to help post-9/11 servicemembers with their eventual transition from military to civilian life.
She became the first registered nurse case manager for a new VA program dedicated to caring for post-9/11 era veterans. Her team screens for veterans’ medical needs and aid by connecting them to VA healthcare, benefits, and community resources. Most recently, her team was rebranded as Military2VA (M2VA) as they continue to reach record numbers of younger veterans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In the community, she has also given her time and skills to volunteer with special events including volunteering to help local senior citizens and handicapped individuals, care packages, support for veterans taking honor flights to Washington D.C. war memorials and the annual Milwaukee Veteran’s Day Parade.
We applaud and are pleased to recognize Darcie Greuel as our 2021 WDVA Woman Veteran of the Year!
Leaning in to chat Monday with World War II veteran Roland “Bud” Pater of Mount Pleasant are Darcie Greuel, left, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, and Ann Knabe, a colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserves, both visiting from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Milwaukee.