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In the October-December timeframe of 1919, a group of returning veterans from World War I held a series of meetings for the establishment of an American Legion Post in the Grand Marais area. The American Legion was a new concept founded less than a year earlier in Paris, France. (The official date of the founding of the National American Legion in the United States is March 15, 1919). Therefore, when American Legion Post 332 was founded on April 8, 1920, we became one of the first posts in both the United States and in Minnesota.
There were 27 veterans who signed up for the initial application for charter of the “North Shore Post 332” in Grand Marais, Minnesota. The charter application notes that the 27 charter members were listed as “various nationalities” with approximately 60 potential veterans in the Cook County/ Grand Marais area. They elected Oscar Lindskog as Commander, Andy Lindberg as Adjutant and Elisha “E. L.” Creech as Treasurer. But when you check the list of names in the Charter it was the “who’s who” in Grand Marais history.
The Grand Marais Post was originally known as “American Legion Post 332”, “the North Shore Post” or “the Benjamin Franklin Bockenhauer Post”. Our original charter lists all three names on the application, and they are interchangeable, and it appears that all three were used and substituted in local newspaper articles and various correspondence throughout our history. Our original charter was dated on April 8, 1920.
First, let’s talk about the name Benjamin Franklin Bockenhauer. Who was Benjamin?
Corporal Benjamin Franklin Bockenhauer was born in Trempealeau, Wisconsin on November 30, 1889, and killed-in-action (KIA) and interned in Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial, Romagne-sons-Montfaucon, Department de la Meuse, Lorraine, France on October 5, 1918 (age 29) while serving with the E Company, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division. Prior to enlisting he resided in Maple Hill, Minnesota and worked as a logger. Our Post’s history has a reference that “he was a relative of Russel Zarbak’s parents”. What we know of him was he was older than most (29) and the 16th Infantry paraded in Paris in July 1917.
In October 1917, Bockenhauer’s division (First Infantry Division, AEF) went into action. They remained in and out of action for the next year. Corporal Bockenhauer was killed in action (KIA) on October 5, 1918. According to Post history, Chris Ruda, another Post 332 Charter Member, was with Ben when he was killed (this information came from Al Bally to Donald Wilson on April 24, 1984). When Ben was killed, the Spanish Flu Pandemic had been hitting the AEF since March 1918 when they were training at Fort Riley, many suffered and followed them to France. Armistice of World War 1 happened 35 days after Ben’s death.
Over the years, our North Shore Post in Grand Marais has been reorganized, re-numbered, renamed and have had numerous locations (four that we know of in Grand Marais area over our 100 years). We became semi-inactive and even declared inactive during the late 1920s when the county was gripped by the Great Depression. We have reorganized with a new charter that listed 14 members of the original North Shore Post and we are presently listed as American Legion Post 413, the Benjamin Bockenhauer Post. What we have learned is that Our Post’s and the American Legion’s success depends entirely on active membership, participation, and volunteerism. The organization belongs to the people it serves and the communities in which it thrives.
When examining the presence and impact of the American Legion Post in Cook County one should examine our mission statement of the American Legion and then measure us by that yardstick. It was originally chartered by Congress in 1919 as a patriotic veteran’s organization focusing originally on service for veterans, servicemembers and the communities.
The American Legion is the nation’s largest wartime veterans service organization, committed to mentoring youth and sponsorship of wholesome programs in our communities, advocating patriotism and honor, promoting strong national security, and continued devotion to our fellow service members and veterans.
With that being said, the North Shore Post quickly became the community center of town with events going on at the Legion Post constantly. From monthly dinner for veterans and their friends to in the last decade Trivia (“Grand Marais’ Adult Continuing Education”). We have tried to focus on various activities that benefit our community at large.
In the 1950s, when you look back on our minutes for our meetings, you see that we were heavily involved in 4th of July activities (i.e., decorating the town, parade, fireworks display for the harbor, rides and dunking booth, etc.), bingo nights ($200 to $300 a month for Bingo Prizes in 1954 was a lot of money) and Turkey shoots (we purchased 100 turkeys in October 1956 alone). We held dozens of Turkey shoots in the 1950s as community events as well as fund-raisers. Not only did we do these major events but also a lot of minor events and assistance with other community organization at the ‘grass root’ level such as North Shore Hospital Association membership drive in April 1956 when the Post volunteered to cover all Grand Marais in a house-to-house coverage over four weekends.
And of course, we do the American Legion-specific events that we have excelled at and that only the local American Legion can do. Every 4th of July, Fisherman Picnic, local parade, or school Veterans Day event you will find an American Legion Post 413 Honor Guard. And one of the most important tasks and privilege is at every veteran funeral that we are asked we provide for a color guard, taps and honor guard. We do this whether the veteran was an American Legion member or not. Care and maintenance of all the flags in Bear Tree Park and at the Courthouse are all covered by your local American Legion Post.
On the National level there are hundreds of local American Legion programs and activities that strengthen our nation one community at a time. American Legion Baseball is one of the nation’s most successful amateur athletic programs, educating young people about the importance of sportsmanship, citizenship and fitness. The Operation Comfort Warriors program supports recovering wounded warriors and their families, providing them with “comfort items” and the kind of support that makes a hospital feel a little bit more like home. The Legion also raises millions of dollars in donations at the local, state, and national levels to help veterans and their families during times of need and most recently, to provide college scholarship opportunities.
The American Legion is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization with great political influence perpetuated by its grassroots involvement in the legislation process from local districts to Capitol Hill. Legionnaires’ sense of obligation to community, state and nation drives an honest advocacy for veterans in Washington. The Legion stands behind the issues most important to the nation’s veterans’ community, backed by resolutions passed by volunteer leadership.
We would be amiss if we did not mention the American Legion Auxiliary Unit (for spouses, daughters, sisters, grandmothers, mothers and direct and adopted female descendants of veterans. This was organized in Grand Marais about the same time as our American Legion nationally was organized.
The Auxiliary is a separate standalone nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization with a national charter from Congress that has similar missions’ statement as the American Legion.
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