American Legion Post 413 celebrates its’ 100-year history and looks to the future

As American Legion Post 413 celebrates its 100-year anniversary, we felt that it would be of interest to the public to remember and realize how the legion has been and still is an integral part of the community.

We hope the history notice, along with the photos, will bring back memories for many of you. Hopefully, it will bring a smile or a chuckle for some of you when a photo or name triggers a memory. For others, it may cause a moment of quiet remembrance and reflection of a friend or family member long gone.

Since the inception of our post, we have experienced a pause in our charter, only to flourish following WW II and the Korean War. We are now into the Vietnam generation and the declining number of veterans in our society. Nevertheless, Post 413 strives to keep alive the traditions for veterans and keep a visible profile for the public. This includes leading parades, the avenue of flags at Harbor Park, the placement of flags at all the county cemeteries for Memorial Day and Veterans day. Most important of all, the military honors for the fallen veterans and their families.

Just as important but less visible is our firm commitment to helping veterans and their causes. We are strong supporters of the Silver Bay Veterans Home and the excellent job they do. We have contributed to several Honor Flights to Washington D.C., and we are especially proud of one of our members who, on his own, has been an escort on ten of these flights. The Legion Auxiliary has a scholarship program with the school, and the post is in the process of starting its own scholarship program, one for education, the other for vocational, which will go to the children and grandchildren of post members. This summer, the post created an “Enlistment Appreciation” program for the youth of our country who have enlisted to become “veterans.”

As a post, we hope all of these programs and events can continue for years to come, so we are encouraging the younger veterans of the county, the Gulf War, and the War on Terrorism vets to come and fill the shoes as the Viet Nam Veterans fade into the sunset.

Finally, I would like to thank our post “Historian,” Terry Breithaupt, and Brian Larsen at the newspaper for bringing the history of Post 413 to life. I will finish by thanking all of the veterans who have come and gone before us.

With pride and honor,
Bob Mattson,
Commander, American
Legion Post 413.