The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
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Legion provides camaraderie, community
By Brian Cox, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: May 31, 2007
Its buildings — often with a tank or artillery gun stationed out front — are landmarks in a community.
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Its members, in similar fashion, are historic markers, representing generations of veterans spanning decades of military service from all branches of the United States armed forces.
The American Legion has posts, made of corrugated steel to cinderblock to white clapboard, based in more than 450 communities across Michigan.
There are eight posts in Washtenaw County, accounting for more than 1,100 legion members.
For almost 90 years, American Legion posts across the country have provided veterans with a place to congregate, a forum for community service, and an avenue to honor and care for fellow veterans.
It's the camaraderie, community service and commitment to veterans that legion members identify time and again as the cement that holds a post together.
A sense of camaraderie
When Jerry Layher leaves American Legion Post 557 in Dexter on a Friday night, a hail of friendly farewells follows him out the door.
Admittedly, as a member of the Dexter Post for 35 years and the executive board member in charge of the bar, the 64-year-old former Navy man is at the post almost every night and so is a familiar face.
But it's that type of camaraderie that many Legion members cite as one of the cornerstones of the organization.
"You're around a group of people that's gone through the same thing you've gone through," said Duane Hicks, 66, who has been a member of the Dexter Post for 14 years and commander for three terms. "They know what you've been through and you know what they've been through."
Hicks and Layher served in the Navy from 1959 to '63 and both found themselves off the coast of Cuba in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Legion members, despite possibly having served in different military branches and even different decades, share a common bond that remains unbroken even after they leave the military.
"We've all done it, we've all done the same thing," Bob Kellogg said while outside American Legion Post 117 in Manchester. "It don't matter if it's World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Lebanon. We all know what's going on in there."
The posts are warehouses of stories. Veterans exchange with one another tales of their service, weaving a thread of oral history that is passed down from generation to generation.
"Everybody has a different story," said Kellogg, who spent 10 years in the Army Military Police Corps. "No matter how many times they tell a story, you're right there listening."
For Matt Walters, the newly elected commander of American Legion Post 268 in Milan, listening to older veterans' stories represents a rite of honor.
"I enjoy listening to their stories and giving them the respect they deserve," said Walters, 48, who served in the Air Force from '76 to '82.
An extension of the fellowship is the familial connections often found running through a post.
Chuck Steele, who at 77 has been a member of the Manchester post for 54 years, including five terms as commander, grew up with the American Legion.
His father became a member after fighting in World War I. His 86-year-old brother, Edward Jr., is a member of the same post. And the family tradition continues: Steele now has a grandson, Patrick, who is in the Navy.
Colleen Wolfe-Duranso, 56, also grew up in the legion. Her father, Jim Duranso, who served in the Navy, was a past commander of American Legion Post 282 in Ypsilanti. Her mother served as president of the American Legion Auxiliary, which is a service affiliate of the legion that is open to women.
"I've been involved in the legion since I was three," said Wolfe-Duranso, standing in Highland Cemetery with members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars as she coordinated the placement of flags on the gravesites of veterans. "Families used to vacation together. It was like I had a family of 25 to 30 people."
That level of fellowship, however, has declined, Wolfe-Duranso said regretfully, echoing the sentiments of other longtime Legion members.
The time commitments members now face from family and work are greater and a wider array of social opportunities is available, restricting many members' involvement with their post.
Nonetheless, Legion members say the camaraderie they experience in the organization is central to their remaining involved.
But that is only the beginning.
A sense of community
"I think the primary importance (of the legion) is the things we do to support the community," said Jim Fuller, commander of American Legion Post 322 in Saline. "We gear a lot toward the kids in the community."
Post 322 awards nine college scholarships a year from money raised primarily through their sauerkraut dinners, and gives out two Americanism awards of $500 bonds to high school and middle school students. The post also sponsors an Easter egg hunt, a Halloween candy check and activities demonstrating proper care of the American flag.
"We try to do things that are associated with Americanism," said Fuller, who served in the Army for more than 30 years. "We do things that not only raise money but that instill patriotism."
From pancake breakfasts, to blood drives, to raising money for Toys for Tots, to college scholarships, to sponsoring Little League teams, to putting up flags on Main Street on holidays, to chartering more than 1,700 Boy Scouts of America units nationwide, posts strive to involve the community.
Their efforts are not always recognized, said Joyce Scott, president of the Manchester Auxiliary as she stood outside the post beside five grills where her husband of 43 years, R.D. "Scottie" Scott, 71, was preparing for a steak fry open to the community. He said he was ready for 75 people to show up.
"Sometimes there are things we do that don't make headlines," said Joyce, who has been a member of the auxiliary for 17 years. Her husband, who served 36 years in the Airborne Rangers and Navy, has been a member of the legion for almost 20 years.
"I think it's pretty common that people don't know much about what we do," said Dave Miller, the commander of the Dexter Sons of the American Legion, "but I also think it's common that when people join, they stay involved."
At a luncheon following the Memorial Day services in Saline, Bill Vogel spread his arms out as a gesture to the post's outreach.
"We're really, really community oriented," said Vogel, who has been a member of the legion for 35 years. "We're always trying to think of ways to bring the community together. Like the memorial service out there today -- that was for everybody."
Camaraderie and service to the community are key elements of the American Legion, but at the organization's core is attention to the needs of veterans.
A sense of commitment
"The other purpose in our life is taking care of veterans," said Jim Early, 72, a past commander of the Milan post, where he has been a member for 33 years.
He sums up the legion's central mission succinctly: honoring past and current veterans.
"The biggest thing and the most important thing I like about (the Auxiliary) is helping veterans," said Joyce Scott, "Those veterans need all the help they can get."
Posts rotate the responsibility of visiting veterans in the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Ann Arbor as often as possible. The Manchester Auxiliary buys and wraps Christmas gifts for the veterans to pick out for their families. They go to play bingo or provide entertainment for the hospitalized vets.
Posts routinely organize putting together care packages for soldiers overseas and write letters of support.
Above the bar in the Dexter Post is a photograph of a unit currently serving in Iraq. Several soldiers in the unit are sons of post members. Each soldier autographed the photo.
Layher shows the photo with pride.
"This is what we're about," he said.
"There are a lot of noble causes you can be involved in," said Miller, the Dexter Sons of the American Legion president, "but what's more important than supporting a soldier? No matter your politics, they're the backbone of the country."
The American Legion is active in Washington, D.C., lobbying on behalf of veterans. The legion's single greatest legislative achievement was spearheading the passage of the GI Bill of Rights in 1943. The legion's work on Capitol Hill is an important component of its mission, said Chris Tramp, an active member of the Coast Guard, who joined the Ypsilanti Post two years ago.
"The legion has a big voice and takes up veterans' issue in Congress," said Tramp. "The more members the Legion has the bigger voice we have."
Individual posts also are eager to provide any support needed to families whose father, mother, or children are fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan..
"We are always, constantly monitoring the situation to know about families who have kids overseas," Fuller said.
To honor veterans now gone, several Posts are veritable museums with photographs and memorabilia from past wars in glass display cases.
In Dexter, a red book on a table near the entrance features photographs of the post's World War II members. Above the table is a banner reading, "Registry of Remembrances."
"There is a historical connection here," said Jean Early, vice president of the Milan Legion Auxiliary. She is also a past president of the group and has been secretary and treasurer as well.
Early's multiple roles highlights the greatest challenge the American Legion Posts face: membership growth and increased participation.
Facing challenges
American Legion Post leaders are unanimous that to remain viable they must do better at attracting younger members and expanding its active membership.
"People have so many other things to do these days," said Hicks of Dexter. "It looks like it's dying off. It's hard to get younger guys to join."
In the past year alone, five members of the post in Milan have died and new members from the younger generations are few and far between.
"We need active members," Miller said. "We need to get younger guys in here and maybe they'll bring in their friends."
They need members like Chris Tramp's brother Paul Tramp, who recently retired after serving 20 years in the Army and Army National Guard.
But Paul Tramp, 44, has two young sons and is active in school and after-school activities. He's strapped for time.
"Once I'm not tied up with my children's activities, I might be interested in something more," he said. "But raising two kids with sports and Boy Scouts, I just don't have the time."
In Saline, Fuller said the Legion may have to get better at adopting changes.
"Our basic philosophy has always been the same," he said, "but we've had to change some of our activities. We've had to learn to change to draw membership."
It may be, admitted post leaders, that the legion's membership is simply destined to be made up mostly of men in their late 40s or older, whose children are largely grown and who find more time open to them.
"I really hadn't settled down enough to join a single post," said Chris Tramp, 47, attending the Memorial Day service at Highland Cemetery. "A lot of people think (the American Legion) is just a place for their dads to go. Hopefully, that's changing. Hopefully, the ranks will swell again. The key is getting younger members involved, poised to take over leadership positions."
Chuck Steele, 77, the past commander of the Manchester post had a simple answer to the question of his post's future.
He waved a hand at a wall where the pictures of active military service members from Manchester are displayed.
There are 26.
"The legion isn't going no where as long as there is a service member getting out," said 48-year-old Kellogg, who joined the Manchester Post only nine months ago. "They'll still want to be a part of something."
Staff Writer Brian Cox can be reached at 429-7380 or bcox@heritage.com.
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