Hometown and patriotism

Think a moment about what your community means to you.  I mean where you now call home — where you live these days.  I remember in 1953 my parents moved us to Wyoming and the Shell Valley where Uncle Jim and Aunt Ferne Moberly lived.  I began to ride George “Conoco” Scott’s school bus to school in Greybull and sixth grade. This was a big deal for an 11 year old!  One look at the Big Horns made me a Wyomingite!

Shell and Greybull really “took” with me.  I’ve called the community my hometown ever since. Should someone ask where I’m from, I would proudly respond “Shell” or “Greybull” or “Wyoming USA.”  It’s like hometown pride has been part of me all these years.  How about you? For you too?

Some of us in American Legion Post 32 one were talking about the concept — about patriotism and how it affects us personally.  My dictionary tells me it is a love, a devotion to one’s homeland. Well, OK, I do love my country, but how does that compare with how I feel about my local community? Our past post commander, Paul Linse, said he believed patriotism begins with, and is strongest at, the local level -- at our hometown.

That got me to thinking.  For 28 years, I wore your Army’s green. I saluted that beloved flag hundreds of times over the years — and still do when I hoist or retire the colors at my home. Yes, there is some emotion involved in that. One evening I saw on TV a clip showing a woman walking past a displayed U.S. flag. As she passed, she reached up and tore down the flag and threw it into a nearby trash can. It is well I was not there to see that.  There was some emotion involved in that too.

So, with saluting, paying taxes and voting, what does this old warhorse do for the community?  Post 32 undertakes various tasks and activities. We display flags around town on appropriate occasions — we even maintain a large flag at Eagle Pass. We are struggling to establish a new Legion Hall. We once had a concession to sell hot dogs and hamburgers during the Days of ‘49 weekend. We conduct military gravesite rites when a fellow veteran is laid to his/her final rest. We used to march the colors in the Days of ‘49 parade but recent years find us reduced to riding on a flatbed truck or trailer in parades.

We get a good feeling in serving the community and to enhance local spirit.  You may well figure why we ride, instead of marching, the colors. Yep, you guessed it, we’ve become rather aged.  Old bones are ... well ... old!

Post 32 recently reached its 100th year.  When the soldiers and sailors of World War I got off the train at the Greybull depot – just back from France — they got busy and formed an American Legion Post 32 and continued service to the Greybull, Shell and Emblem communities.  Later, generations of veterans followed. After World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Cold War and still ongoing Middle East violence and conflicts, they came home and carried on their patriotic service.  The U.S. is engaged in various “hot spots” around the globe.  Young men and women, including National Guard/Reserve, are returning to shed their uniforms and pick up where they left off.

But, we have a big problem.  We don’t see you younger veterans at our Legion meetings.  Where are you?  Have you ever heard of the old GAR?  The Grand Army of the Republic?  When the Civil War ended, in 1865, they had a monstrous four-day parade in Washington.  All those war-weary soldiers, sailors and marines went to their respective home states.  Many continued patriotic service at the local level. The last GAR member, a fellow in Duluth, Minn., died in 1956. Fortunately, the American Legion has no end date for membership eligibility.  Military commitments leave hardly a gap on the calendar which would disallow membership.  And, a veteran need not to have service out of country.  Were you in a missile silo in Missouri?  A cook at Fort Nix, New Jersey?  A medical records clerk at Great Lakes, Illinois? On harbor patrol in Georgia?  No matter. You qualify and are much needed.

Accordingly, we wish to welcome you younger vets into the Legion. Please ... come and join up. Sure it involves time and work — but earlier veterans, like us, joined and worked even while holding jobs and raising families.  Local people will benefit from your service and love of home community. It’s now the younger generation’s turn.  That’s patriotism in action.  Help!

God bless you all this day!

(Ken Derringer is a member of American Legion Post 32.  He can be reached at (307) 469-9222.)