Caravan celebrates American Legion posts

At each post, the caravan recognized its district’s accomplishments in membership growth for the American Legion and the Sons of the American Legion. In addition, department commanders spoke on their own and the national goals and themes for 2023.

The main speaker was Ken Hylton, of Sunman, Indiana, who is one of five national vice commanders of the American Legion.

In the organization, states are referred to as departments that, depending on the state’s size, are divided into divisions, then regions, then districts and finally posts. Of those posts he had visited prior to Metropolis, Hylton said he had seen the commonality “whether it’s American Legion, Ladies Auxiliary or Sons of the American Legion members, they all work together and in the communities. They have a lot of different types of activities. But there are some that are posts without activities. Some are small, some are huge. It’s exciting to see the different types of American Legion posts we have here.”

Like many other organizations around the nation, the American Legion has seen a decline in the younger generation joining. Hylton said that has differed by state.

“We just have to find a way to change our operations to meet their needs because they’re going to be our future. We need to look at what they would like to be involved with in order to attract them,” he said, noting similar hurdles were encountered with the Vietnam generation.

“World War II and Korea were pretty close together, but there was a far-sized gap between Korea and Vietnam — and sometimes there was a lot of controversy. Back then when the Vietnam veterans came home, the older generation didn’t want to associate with the Vietnam veterans. Then, they started realizing where they went wrong with that choice. We need to help them understand we’re all created equal and we’re all working for the same goal — taking care of veterans and their families and getting involved with the community,” Hylton said.

From his own experience, Hylton had been out of the service for two years — he served in the U.S. Army from 1970-73 with the 301st Army Security Agency Battalion attached to the 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and later transferred to the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colorado — before being asked to join the American Legion in 1975.

“My dad was a Legionnaire when I was a toddler,” he said.

“When I went in the service or when I came back home, I could’ve joined, but my dad never asked me if I wanted to be a member. I think he saw there might have been some negative thoughts about the American Legion organization because it was a watering hole for veterans. He didn’t want me to start out at my young age at the bars, which I can respect that.”

When Hylton was asked to join, “it didn’t take me long to say yes.” He was with his first post for almost three years before transferring to one closer to home. “I believe if I would’ve stayed at the first post, it probably would’ve been a whole different story. When I went to my new post, they started getting me involved. The next thing you know, I kept going to meetings.”

At the district meetings, those commanders noticed Hylton’s involvement and asked him to start at the district level. “It wasn’t long after that I started taking in some committees, and everything worked it’s way where I am today,” he said.

This was Hylton’s first caravan. As national vice commander, his area covers seven states — Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and Wisconsin — with Illinois being the most western and West Virginia the most eastern. Following a stop in Bloomington, he went to Michigan and Wisconsin. Next month will take him to West Virginia with Ohio, then Kentucky, to follow.

“I like working with and helping veterans. I get a lot of pride in helping veterans. It’s something that’s built into my passion,” he said.

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Wayne Erickson, national executive committeeman for the department of Illinois, kicked off the Jan. 18 meeting, noting the caravan is in the “spirit of membership and comradeship.”

Illinois Department Commander Lomac Payton’s 2023 motto is “Stronger Together.”

“Can we get things done ourselves? Yes, but the task is easier and better together,” he said, as he reminded attendees there are three kinds of people — those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wondered what happened.

“Do you have a ‘why’? Why did you join the American Legion?” Payton joined after returning home from serving in the Army for two tours of Korea. “I suggest if you do not have a why, we’ll find one for you together. When you find one, go out and share your why with other veterans.”

Janet Bacon, Illinois Department Auxiliary president, has set her 2023 mission as “Serving Our Vets” with the 2023 theme as “Hugs for Heroes.”

She noted that while posts are striving to return to normal following the COVID-19 shutdown, they are still functioning organizations and they “cannot give up on our veterans. There are so many members out there helping to make this happen. Many of our VA reps still bring whatever materials are needed and donate to the VA facilities …. Let us do our best to keep working our mission of serving our veterans. To all of the veterans in this room, thank you. And to everyone who helps our veterans, thank you for all the work you have done and will be doing.”

Illinois Department Senior Vice Commander Delmar Buske noted growing membership is “a team effort and requires the Legion family working together.”

Illinois Sons of the American Legion detachment commander Kevin O’Connell noted that “membership is paramount because membership means a lot when we go for different laws to promote the betterment of the veteran’s life. The more membership we have, the stronger voice we have in Washington, D.C.” to spearhead things like the PACT Act, which means veterans who suffer from caustic chemicals, such as Agent Orange, have the ability to get help through the VA.

O’Connell, whose father was a World War II pilot, has set his slogan for 2023 as “Got Your Six.”

“We, in the Sons of the American Legion, watch your six. We watch the backs of the American Legion, the Auxiliary and all veterans. That’s what we stand for and that’s what we do,” he said.

His 2023 project — supporting programs aimed at the prevention of veteran suicide — is a personal one after losing a friend and fellow post member to suicide 18 months ago. “They say that 22 veterans a day commit suicide, I believe that’s higher if you start including alcoholism and drug abuse — a lot of guys trying to escape are self-medicating and, unfortunately, they sometimes go too far,” O’Connell said.

In speaking to the group, Hylton noted that national American Legion commander James Troiola’s 2023 campaign relates to O’Connell’s.

“Be The One” also focuses on veteran suicide, seeing it as an “invisible injury American Legion family members need to take very seriously. We need to educate and recognize what some of our veterans are struggling with,” Hylton said, noting the national suicide and crisis lifeline is 988.

“On this campaign, you could ‘Be The One’ to help take care of that. A lot of veterans don’t want to ask for help because they’re afraid (of the repercussions). One of the things we want to see is to make sure they’re comfortable in asking for help. We need to destigmatize that process. If we don’t, we’re not doing our job.”

Troiola’s 2023 theme is V.E.T.S. with each letter standing for something. Hylton said:

• V is for Veterans, “those who served in the military and wore the nation’s uniform, we want to make sure they and their families are taken care of in the communities we serve.”

• E is for Educate, “we’d like for you to educate yourself and others what the American Legion does for your communities and has to offer.”

• T is for Team, “create teams in your post to go out and visit veterans and talk about the American Legion and its programs. We’re used to how the American Legion has operated in the past to fit our needs. As time goes on, if we want to get with the future, we may want to start making some changes to fit the younger generation. I don’t know what that is, but we’re working at it. We need to get that generation started because we’re going to need somebody to take our place one of these days.”

• S is for Sponsor. “We take great pride in recurring a new member, but how often do we follow up after they’ve joined? An educated Legionnaire is a more effective Legionnaire.”

Post 306 commander Jeff Crippen recognized the post’s Ladies Auxiliary and Sons of the American Legion. “The Sons play an important role for our small post here. We’re very thankful for the Auxiliary and the Sons because they help us with everything we do,” he said.

Post 306 is part of the Department of Illinois’ fifth division and 24th district. The district also consists of Johnson, Pope, Hardin, Saline, Gallatin, Hamilton, White, Wayne, Edwards and Clay counties. Eight of the district’s posts and three Sons of the American Legion detachments were recognized during the Jan. 18 meeting for their membership drive efforts.

The American Legion is open to all branches of service. For more information, visit legion.org, or illegion.org, or call 618-524-2043.