American Legion membership nearing crisis as membership dwindles

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The American Legion marked its 95th anniversary in 2014, but local leaders are concerned about how much longer the organization will continue to serve America’s veterans.

Through the years, the Legion has served as a catalyst for social change and benefits for American veterans and their families.

Steve Rood, a member of the Shanklin-Attaway Post 5 of the American Legion on Shorter Avenue in Rome and Georgia Department of Veterans Services Cedartown office manager, said membership in the Legion started to decline after the Vietnam War.

“And it’s just been impossible to get the Iraqi guys to come and join,” Rood said.

He cites a number of potential reasons, including the old image of the American Legion hall as a smoke-filled room with drinking and gambling.

“That’s nothing like the Legion is now but that’s the way they see it, so it’s hard to get them to come, but we keep working on it,” Rood said.

Kevin McGonigal is the commander of the Shanklin-Attaway Post 5. He got involved with the post after reading of the death of a local homeless veteran.

“I didn’t think it would be right for a man to be buried alone,” McGonigal said. He met a small handful of men from Post 5 at that funeral and they reached out to him to join the Rome group.

McGonigal is now finishing his second term as commander. He is prohibited by the organization’s by-laws from serving a third consecutive term.

He said he’s even gone so far as to reach out to the other Legion posts in Rome to see if there is an interest in combining all of the posts to help create a larger, more unified, and more active organization. “We’d be able to accomplish a lot more,” McGonigal said. So far, McGonigal said there hasn’t been much interest in the idea.

Other Floyd County posts include the Grady Mabry Post 506 in South Rome, the McClain-Sealock Post 126 in Lindale and the Adams-Coker-Covington-Waters Post 52 in North Rome.

He said the Post 5 membership roster actually numbers in the mid-600s, down from the high 700s less than a decade ago.

He said most members seldom come to the post, a point echoed by Jim Mehaffey who has been a member of the Post 5 Legion for 53 years.

Mehaffey, a Korean War veteran, said about the only time he gets to the post is after the annual Veterans Day program. McGonigal said most of the more faithful members are older than 70, some in their 90s.

McGonigal is a case study in the dwindling number of people who are active with the Legion. The U.S. Coast Guard veteran has only lived in Rome for four years. His rise to the commander’s seat is testimony itself to the lack of active leadership.

“No matter how hard I’ve tried. No matter what effort I’ve put into it I just can’t seem to draw the younger people here,” McGonigal said.

Ken Waters, commander of Post 52, said his membership talks about the dwindling numbers at just about every meeting. “We’re probably off about 30 percent,” Waters said. “The new guys just aren’t interested in it. We haven’t been about to figure out why.”

McGonigal suggests that the shrinking U.S. military is another reason for the lack of new blood in the Legion.

Attitudes toward service have also changed.

McGonigal said he went into the service because his father, grandfather and uncles had all served.

“I’ll serve; it’s what I supposed to do,” McGonigal said. He said the mindset of his generation and the ones that preceded him were that veterans were all brothers in service to their country.

“They worked together and accomplished a lot,” McGonigal said.

Today, the organization tries to help a lot of youth organizations and schools.

Members help sponsor the annual Veterans Day Memorial in the Myrtle Hill Cemetery and the post is probably best known for its 18-member Honor Guard, which has helped with military rites at 91 funerals since July 1, 2014.

The group is primarily made up of Legionnaires in their late 70s. “I’m the baby, and I’m 67,” McGonigal said.

Source: Rome News

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