# I've Been Invited to Join the American Legion! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 28, 2006, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-invited-to-join-the-american-legion/362557 "2006-06-28T22:31:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-invited-to-join-the-american-legion/362557/1 "2006-06-28T22:31:29Z")
I opened the envelope, and it had check off boxes for your years of service-included was one box that said “Service Dates Nov. 1915-Nov. 1918” How many people fit into that category. Anyway, what does joining a legion post involve-is it a good deal? ---
**Author:** ![woodstock989](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f05b48/32.png) [@woodstock989](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstock989)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2006, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-invited-to-join-the-american-legion/362557/2 "2006-06-29T01:18:35Z")
My Dad was the post commander of the local Legion for as long as I could remember. I spent a small chunk of my childhood there. It was nothing but a bar where they all smoked, drank (not surprising then that congestive heart failure and alcoholism were the reasons my Dad was in his grave at 55 years) and played poker and pool. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2006, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-invited-to-join-the-american-legion/362557/3 "2006-06-29T02:03:26Z")
[Vets group seeing membership fall](http://www.dailyadvance.com/news/content/news/stories/2006/06/11/20060611edavets.html) > [@](#): > > With most of their ranks now made up of World War II and Korean War veterans, area American Legion officials are struggling to recruit younger veterans into their ranks. > > Ken Rominger, commander of the William Paul Stallings American Legion Post 126 in Hertford, said his post has plenty of members who are in their late 70s and early 80s. What the post doesn’t have are members in their 30s, 40s or 50s, he said. > > “We just don’t have any young members,” Rominger said. “Really, the new members (we do have) have been older people who have moved into the area from somewhere else.” The local outfit invited me to join last year. I was a little surprised seeing as I’ve never been in the military. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2006, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-invited-to-join-the-american-legion/362557/4 "2006-06-29T04:03:22Z")
I am a retired Army officer. My day was very active in the Legion. It let him smoke and drink without my mom knowing about. He was dead at 69. The local Legion hall is located across the street from the ‘Assisted Living Apartments.’ They have a nice early bird dinner special. All in all, they are not aiming at my demographic. (And I am almost fifty years old.) Heck with them. If they wanted to get younger vets to join, they would get rid of the bar and add a health gym. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2006, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-invited-to-join-the-american-legion/362557/5 "2006-06-29T15:41:21Z")
I belonged to the Women’s Auxilliary and my ex and his father were members for years. I did some bartending. We all drank. I catered a couple events there. It’s pretty much exactly how woodstock989 describes it. ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2006, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-invited-to-join-the-american-legion/362557/6 "2006-06-29T21:31:07Z")
I was asked to join a couple of times. I turned them down, because (a) I couldn’t in good faith join an organization which supports the flag burning amendment and (b) If I wanted to hang out and drink, I’d go to bars after work instead of night school.