Honoring Our Local Heroes: Veterans of Lewis County

"Everything we're doing needs to be passed down to the younger Veterans, but out of the more than 800 vets in Lewis County, the VFW only has about 40 members, and the American Legion about 85," stated Post Adjutant Tommy Carroll.

The work Tommy is referring to is abundant and mostly unseen but certainly noticed. We notice the service flags flying in town but rarely see them going up. We notice the flags on graves but never see who puts them on. We see the food pantries full, but who does the work to keep them that way?

The American Legion, of which, there are four pillars: Veterans Affairs and Rehbilitation, National Securtiy, Americanism, Children & Youth.

The American Legion's volunteers and members work throughout the year to order those flags, keep them updated, and place them. They are the focal point and initiaters of the Veterans Day and Memorial Day Parades, organize Big Brother Food Drives, Golf Tournaments, Vets Services, and Boy's State.

Mr. Carroll is the longest-standing member of the Legion. "We've got to make sure the community knows everything we can do for them, but we need younger hands helping," he says. The building is in need of repair, spcifically the roof, and while the Legion does a tremendous job raising money for others, it's always more difficult asking for your own needs, and they are no different. "In years past, we, with our more abled bodies may have been able to fix the roof. Today is a different day."

It seems the membership numbers are down due to aging vets being unable to see well at night to drive to meetings. "We've moved the meetings from the second floor to downstairs space," Tommy informed. "It helps us all out a little."

This writer wonders why more Veterans aren't taking their place beside their brothers and sisters. There is an apparent need. I wonder if there is a tech-minded vet who can set up a screen with Zoom and teach the older vets how to zoom into meetings when they are unwell or during the winter when the sun sets sooner? And surely there is a vet that has experience in roofing or some that are willing to stand side by side in the weather, collecting food and clothing for the needy in our community. Are there no vets interested in carrying the torch of continued heroism and national loyality in a community that claims to be "tight knit" and "always there for each other?" Where are you now? I encourage you to contact Tommy Carroll today at: 931-626-2049.