The history of the three American Legion posts in Wallowa County is leading to a lot of historical information. The posts started in 1919 were the Chief Joseph Post in Enterprise and the Kruse Post 72 in Wallowa.

The Chief Joseph Post building burned down in the 1950s and the third post is Wallowa Lake Post 157 in Joseph, which was chartered in 1953. There is mention of the Chief Joseph Post in the meeting minutes referring to it as the post in Enterprise. I was speaking to Mike Teece, commander of the Wallowa Post 157, and he will be assisting me in obtaining information.

We lost a member of the Kruse Post 72 last year, Wayne Wolf, a veteran of World War II. This last month we lost another member, Thorval Burrows, who served during the Korean era. Both active posts have been losing our most senior members. We mourn their passing, but we know they are looking down on us and smiling. The American Legion posts have endured much sorrow and much joy because of our senior members who persevered in the tasks of community involvements and ensuring we instill our patriotic beliefs.

The American Legion is dwindling in membership, and we need to welcome our younger generation of veterans to join in keeping our posts alive, so perhaps starting a Sons of the Legion (SOL) is a possibility. They will learn flag etiquette, the Constitution and participate in many American events. We can then ignite patriotism in our younger generation.

To be eligible for the SOL you must be a child or grandchild of a veteran. I’ll provide more in-depth information next time. Please provide any information you think pertinent to our column’s mission.