Born and raised in Black Hawk, U.S. Army Veteran Brian Dornbrock still serves the community as vice commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Gilpin County. Dornbrock has lived his whole life in Gilpin County, except for his time in the service, and attended Gilpin County Schools. In the early 90s Dornbrock moved to Missouri lakes where his dad still resides.

He served in the U.S. Army on active duty from 1999 to 2002 as a light wheel mechanic. He said it was always a good time and he made a lot of friends.

When Dornbrock came back from the army, he joined the reserves from 2002 to 2005 and was deployed to Iraq in 2003 to 2004. Back in Gilpin County, Dornbrock works for the Golden Gate State Park, where he has worked before.

“I love being out in the middle of nowhere, but it’s been crazy with all of the people coming up.”

Dornbrock also became involved with the VFW in Gilpin County three years ago. He said a lot of people had left the organization, so he reached out to Gilpin County Resident and Veteran Doug Lupo.

Lupo took over as commander, then nominated Brian Dornbrock as his vice commander, and they got everything on track. This is Dornbrock’s second year as vice commander.

He lives near Golden Gate Canyon State Park with his wife of 2 years with their dog Maddie and cat River. When he’s not working, they’re hiking, camping, hunting or fishing.

The VFW meets on the 4th Tuesday of the month at the Gilpin County Professional Building. They are still working on a website and other contact info.

With questions about the VFW, reach out to Doug Lupo at dl1960@yahoo.com or Brian Dornbrock at brian.dornbrock@gmail.com.