Uncle Sam wanted you — and now the Legion does too
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Vince Wood (right), vice commander of the Orange County American Legion, swears in new officers of the Orange Blossom Post 1167 (from left): Edward Johnson, commander; Philip Valastro, membership chair; Harry Murray Jr., vice commander and compliance officer; Gordon Mathsen, vice commander, adjutant, and chaplain; Nichaols Ierardi, vice commander; John Hand, sergeant-at-arms. Photo by Ed Bailey
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Chester — The American Legion’s Orange Blossom Post in Chester was once a thriving organization with many hundreds of member. The membership is now down to 43, and Gordon Mathsen wants to build the number back up again.
Mathsen, the vice commander, said the post was once filled with World War II and Korean War veterans, but death has claimed most of them, and more are passing every year. Even Vietnam vets like himself are getting on in years, he said.
But with two wars ongoing in Iraq and Afghanistan, there’s no shortage of veterans. And they need support. Matheson wants to build membership to better advocate for veterans’ causes, like health care, a need that will become more and more urgent as the veterans of the current wars get older. Without an organized effort supporting such causes, Matheson said, veterans will not get the attention they need and deserve.
Matheson invites all veterans to consider joining the post, which meets at 8 p.m. on the second Wednesday of every month at the Walton Engine & Hose Co., 81 Main St., Chester.
For more information, call 469-2575. The post’s mailing address is P.O. Box 97, Chester, NY 10918.
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