After his 12-year career in the army, Gilpin County resident Doug Lupo has remained involved with veterans’ groups in the area and is currently commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Gilpin County. He said a year ago he took over as commander of the local VFW after it was suspended by the State because they weren’t meeting the State standards.

The VFW Board needed eight people so they could vote in officers and meet the organization’s obligations, Lupo said. He received a call and was asked whether he would be commander, and he agreed.

With his Vice Commander Brian Dornbroch and his quartermaster, Mathew Commings, they got everything on track. After meeting with Joe Marr, they were offered an office at the Professional Building on Highway 46.

Now they have 30 members. Lupo said they are fortunate to have people involved who have helped local Vets. For example, they assisted one vet who got COVID by making some much-needed repairs to his residence, and another with a deck. They received the “All State Awards” for commander and quartermaster for Colorado.

Lupo did most of his school years abroad and in Virginia. His father was an American ambassador, so they traveled all over the world. He lived in South America, Ireland, Germany, and Asia.

When his father became Executive Director of the State Department, his family settled in Virginia. Lupo was a 60th Session graduate of the Northern Virginia State Police Academy. He worked in executive management for 13 years, including hotel, retail, and restaurant and bar management. He was a general manager for a Clarion Hotel and Director of Guest Services for a Sheraton Hotel

He also was East Coast sales director for Capcom. Capcom began in Japan in 1979 as a manufacturer and distributor of electronic game machines.

Lupo entered the U.S. Army in 1980 and served until 1986. He went back in the early 90s, and then got out in 2001, but his career didn’t end the way he wanted it to. In 2001, when the first plane hit the Twin Towers in New York City, he was in a doctor’s office and was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.

Later, he displaced two vertebrae in his back and was told he no longer had arthritis, even though that doesn’t ever go away. Although he was seven years from retiring, he opted to walk away from the army.

From his time in the army, Lupo remembers the camaraderie and doing a job for a noble cause. “I believe in the Constitution. We will always be a superpower, and people look up to us for our way of life. I’m proud to be an American,” Lupo said.

In the 1990s, he was recruited by Patriot Guard and became the Washington D.C. ride captain where he assisted in doing 250 funeral escorts to Arlington Cemetery. Patriot Guards assisted in ensuring that the families of deceased soldiers were not subjected to those who disrespected and dishonored the procession.

He spent six years as the ride captain and frequently went to Walter Reed Hospital to work with less fortunate veterans.

Lupo moved to Gilpin County eight years ago. He worked for Black Diamond excavating for one year and then worked at the Gilpin County transfer station for five years. He worked for Tomar Trucking and Grapes and Sons Excavating and now is with Denver Metro Security in private armed security.

He sat as a Timberline Fire Board Member from 2018 to 2020. He lives in Gilpin County with his wife Terri and their two Jack Russells, Milo and Penny. Lupo ran for Gilpin County Commissioner and lost twice. He ran as unaffiliated the first time and as a Republican the second time and lost only by 82 votes the second time. Lupo said he was honored that many people voted for him.

With 4H students, the VFW helped clean up the memorial for veterans at the Gilpin County Community Center on Sunday, November 7, and will participate in a Veterans Day luncheon at the Recreation Center from noon to 2 p.m. on November 11.