Dubois County hires veteran to lead Veterans Service Office again

Dubois County has filled its Veterans Service Office again, putting a Marine and Army veteran from Santa Claus, Nick Pagragan, back in place as the county’s point person for veterans who need help with benefits, paperwork and compensation questions.

The hiring ended a stretch in which local veterans kept the office operating after the previous veterans service officer resigned in mid-February. Commissioner Chad Blessinger publicly thanked those volunteers for holding the office together while the county worked through the transition. For veterans waiting on claims, appointments or discharge records, the change matters because the office is often the first stop for navigating federal and state systems that can stall without steady local help.

The Dubois County Veterans Service Office is at 602 Main St. in Jasper and is open Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. County information says the office helps veterans apply for benefits and also assists with health-care-related questions through VA clinics and local community care providers. The office’s weekly Thursday 7 a.m. veteran breakfast remains part of its outreach, open to veterans, active-duty personnel, retirees and families.

The staffing gap came after pressure had already been building on county leaders to expand veterans services. In 2024, veterans pushed commissioners to add hours and staffing because of growing demand and a backlog of claims, and then-veterans service officer Susan Bramlett announced her resignation during that debate. Earlier county coverage showed the office had long operated with limited hours, including a plan by Gary Love, who took over on Aug. 31, 2020, to meet veterans at workplaces during lunch hours.

County leaders also expanded outreach beyond the courthouse office. In 2025, Dubois County launched a program sending certified service officers to American Legion posts and VFW halls, including American Legion Post 147, to meet veterans where they gathered. That effort, along with the new hiring, shows the county trying to keep services accessible even when staffing turns over.

The Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs says county veterans service offices are local contact points that work with the state agency, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs and veterans service organizations. In Dubois County, Pagragan’s hiring restores that link to a staffed office, giving veterans and families a clear place to turn for help that had been covered by volunteers.