Unstoppable!

She never joined the military, but she has served her country for decades.

Diane Burkhalter has no plans to slow down. Late last week, the president of the Van Ells-Schanen American Legion Post 82 Auxiliary in Port Washington and member of the Port Washington Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5373 Auxiliary was juggling multiple patriotic activities.

“I just got home from Badger Girls State only to finish touch-up on the murals (commemorating the country’s 250th anniversary) and get ready for the Fourth of July,” she said.

This is how Burkhalter has been for her entire career as a teacher, covering preschool to university levels, and as pioneer of a plethora of programs to support veterans, always involving what she calls the “Legion family,” combining efforts with Port’s post and other posts and their auxiliaries.

“You’re just stronger together,” she said.

Burkhalter’s first of what she dubbed her “bridge projects” was a combined effort in 2023 with the Fredonia and Belgium auxiliaries. Hike and Bike for Vets raises money for the fishing program at Camp American Legion, a place in Tomahawk offering veterans rest and relaxation.

Burkhalter approached the two auxiliaries about the event during a session at the American Legion College in Saukville. They never heard of Hike and Bike for Vets.

“That’s because I just named it,” she said.

The Camp American Legion program was in need of fishing poles and bait.

“I said we’re paying for worms,” Burkhalter said, and was told, “OK, Diane, that’s not how we’re going to market it.”

The three smallest Legion auxiliaries in Ozaukee County hold an annual eight-mile walk or ride on the Ozaukee Interurban Trail.

Burkhalter’s second bridge project was raising money for a new pontoon boat for Camp American Legion.

Fest for Vets was born in 2023, an event with food, music and arts and crafts and other children’s activities. The effort raised enough money for two pontoon boats.

Burkhalter also started Project Bravo, which pays for service dogs for veterans.

Thanks to medical technology, soldiers today are surviving otherwise fatal injuries in the past and need support, she said.

It took a few months to convince the auxiliary and the Legion post to jump in. They weren’t sure they could raise $30,000 per dog.

But Burkhalter was a step ahead. She wrote grants during her career in education, and she already had a few thousand dollars guaranteed without holding a fundraiser.

“OK, maybe we can do this,” was the response, she said.

Then came convincing veterans to get dogs. Those with missing limbs or traumatic brain injuries don’t return to the everyday life they used to know.

“Our military sees themselves giving help, not getting help,” Burkhalter said.

The dogs, she said, “give them as much independence as possible.”

Burkhalter’s passion for veterans first came from her uncle, then her late husband.

Uncle Smokey, as her uncle was called, exaggerated his age to join the Navy at 16 before America’s involvement in World War II. He was on a ship in Pearl Harbor during the Dec. 7, 1941, attack and served in the Pacific Theater.

Burkhalter’s husband Thomas entered the Army ROTC at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He served four tours in Vietnam, earning multiple Purple Hearts, Bronze Stars and other medals, and left the Army with the rank of colonel.

After retiring from the military, Thomas worked in operations for two companies before coming to Wisconsin. He was the veterans service officer for Richland County and later Ozaukee County. He earned a master’s degree in psychology and regularly helped veterans with mental health issues. Thomas died in 2010.

Burkhalter hadn’t initially joined the Legion Auxiliary or VFW posts since she was working full time and raising three children, but she volunteered every chance she could.

“I was kinda busy but whenever my husband asked me — you know the VFW is distributing poppies. Then the American Legion was doing its poppies,” she said.

Burkhalter joined both posts in the 1980s.

Her bridge projects are just two of many she has started.

Burkhalter gets 200 pumpkins and decorations for a children’s activity at Family Fun Fall Festival in October. Prizes are from the Cedarburg Toy Co. since she tries to support local businesses. She runs Kristkindlmarkt on deer hunters’ widows weekend each November, a craft fair at the Legion Post that doesn’t charge vendors to participate or people to attend.

In 2019, Burkhalter started Sock it to the Soldiers, collecting socks and other clothes for needy veterans in Milwaukee.

“We now have to go down in trucks because of what our Legion family donates,” she said. “Veterans and their families are very generous. They continue to serve their entire lives. That’s just who they are.”

She regularly holds what she calls “scholarship and service Saturdays,” including a family and children event of arts, crafts, games and food on the last Saturday of April, designated Legion Family Day.

Burkhalter received a two-year grant from the American Legion Auxiliary Foundation to hold the Veterans Creative Art Festival in Port that involves nine counties. Veterans create art and win prizes from community businesses. One family whose veteran committed suicide said they found the event helpful, Burkhalter said.

Through that program, a mural featuring positive images of American history was recently created to be auctioned to support veterans’ services and commemorate the country’s 250th anniversary.

“It’s meaningful,” Burkhalter said of the country’s birthday. “Yes, there are really some rough spots. But from the beginning, we were positive and optimistic. People didn’t think we’d succeed and we did. We are such a generous people, and the world knows that. There is no other country that responds as generously and as frequently.”

Burkhalter, for the last two years, has been the chair of the Americanism Committee and has helped judge the annual essay contest. She goes to schools to talk about the many scholarships available through veterans organizations, and she connects with homeschool groups.

Burkhalter is also on the Americanism Membership Committee, traveling across the state to help communities start their own auxiliary chapters.

Burkhalter’s passion, tireless energy and motivation goes beyond her Legion family.

“The veterans I’ve met. The stories you hear. When you’re at events and things, you can’t stop. Because of the United States and who we are, there are always going to be veterans. Look at what’s happening now,” she said.

“They’re going to come home and need support. That support’s got to be there.”