Over the past several months of writing this column, I have been asked, “Why are you a VFW and American Legion member? What do they do?”
Others have asked, “Aren’t they just a group of old guys sitting around drinking and telling war stories?”
The Veteran population in Naperville is 12,000-14,000 men and women of all eras who thought it was important to protect the freedoms of this great county. The community is blessed to have two of the very best VFW and American Legion Posts in the country.
Judd Kendall Post 3873 has had a tradition of being named an All State Post for the last 20-plus years. Last year the Post achieved All American status. Additionally they have received the Community Service Award, which is given to the Post that is most active in the community.
American Legion Post 43 has received awards for membership, community service and many other awards too numerous to mention in this column. This year they are celebrating their 95th year in the Naperville community. I invite you to look on the board of past commanders. The movers and shakers of Naperville have served on that board.
Both the VFW and Legion have many programs that benefit the community. The VFW has the Voice of Democracy audio essay program for high school students, Patriot Pen essay contest for the middle schools, Americanism programs for the elementary schools.
The VFW National Home helps children and family members in times of crisis. Additionally, they have programs to help active duty military and Veterans.
The Legion also has oratorical and essay programs in the community. They support Boys State and Girls State. That program is for students between their junior and senior years. It is a week at Eastern Illinois University where they are with students from all over the state. The students learn about and participate in government.
The money spent on all the listed programs is well over $25,000.
There is so much more that we do but space limits me. We are not “old guys sitting around drinking and telling war stories.”
We continue to serve. We are “Veterans helping Veterans.”
