Help the ranks grow deeper, not thinner

One of the phrases commonly used by speakers at Memorial Day or Veterans Day services across America is that the “the ranks grow thinner” when it comes to the veterans who have served their county but are growing older and passing away.

Those four words are certainly true in the case of many veterans organizations, including the American Legion post in Lovell. For decades, Robert Boyd Stewart Post 11 has conducted graveside services and Memorial Day and Veterans Day ceremonies in North Big Horn County. A dedicated group of veterans has lovingly honored fallen and living comrades from Lovell to Frannie, oftentimes enduring bitter conditions during winter and spring graveside services to do so.

But now, as many members reach their upper 70s and 80s, the ranks of those able to physically conduct the services are indeed growing thinner, with post departures not filled by new members.

Commander Jim Thomas made a surprise announcement at Monday’s ceremonies in Byron, Cowley and Lovell that this will be the last year the Memorial Day services are held in Byron and Cowley unless the Legion can receive some new members. He said the post has not received a single application for membership in two years from a community former Wyoming National Guard Adjutant General Luke Reiner once called the most patriotic in Wyoming.

For the first time this year, the Legion color guard and rifle squad did not march in to a drum cadence at each site for the Memorial Day ceremonies Monday. Instead, chairs were placed for the vets to occupy during each event.

There are hundreds of veterans living in our area, and Thomas issued an appeal at each site Monday for new members to join the Legion post, noting that he has had numerous conversations with veterans who are proud of their service.

The American Legion is not alone in suffering from declining membership. Many organizations that were at the center of community life decades ago are struggling to stay alive today.

It seems like folks in this day and age are not joiners, that families are kept busy with myriad activities and that priorities have shifted. Perhaps stressed-out people need a getaway, a diversion, not another meeting.

And yet, is it not imperative that we honor those who have served their country and sacrificed for all of us? If the American Legion is no longer around, who will perform that important role? Sometimes we tend to believe that it will just happen – but by who?

This is not an attempt to goad anyone into joining something they don’t wish to join. It’s merely a reminder that this kind of service doesn’t happen on its own, and area veterans have an opportunity to join a really great group of guys to help keep the Legion alive and serve their fellow vets.

Jim Thomas, Richard Fink, Mike Kitchen, Tom Dillon, Leroy Collins, Bruce Dempster, Scott Fink, Tim DeFuentes, Dale Fowler and William Anderson. They were the veterans who were able to conduct Memorial Day services on Monday. If you’d like to be a part of that group, call Jim at 272-4246 or Rich at 272-1931.