A modernized Legion post for the 9/11 generation

Marine Corps veteran Erik Luker joined The American Legion shortly after his second combat tour ended in 2003. But it wasn’t until his post, Woodland Park (N.J.) Legion Post 238, was struggling that Luker became involved in the Legion.

Two years later, Luker and his fellow Legionnaires have Post 238 growing, thanks to an influx of post-9/11 veterans, a renovated post home and a dedication to serve and provide a home for veterans.

Since taking over as post commander in 2013, the 34-year-old Luker has teamed up with Post 238 Vice Commander Robert “Bob” Lepore to bring in dozens of the newest generation of veterans. And successful fundraising efforts helped provide the means to renovate the post to a more family-friendly atmosphere.

“Initially I joined The American Legion because I thought it was one of the things I was supposed to do when I separated from service,” Luker said. “The hall was a little dilapidated, and the guys were older and we didn’t have a lot of things in common. I didn’t come around very much.”

Luker said he admitted he struggled readjusting to civilian life. “Looking back on it, the older guys who were members of this post did what they could,” he said. “But they came from a different generation and a different time.”

But when the post was facing possible closure, Luker said he knew he had to step in. “This was a resource I knew we couldn’t let go – and not just for myself,” he said. “I saw too many guys going through a lot of the same things that I (had gone through). I knew we could get this (post) to be a major resource for them.”

Luker teamed up with Lepore to lead fundraising efforts to renovate the post. After that, the focus shifted to recruiting new members.

Lepore, a 38-year-old Marine veteran, said it was important to get the post fixed up in order to attract new member. “Young people – kids in their 20s and early 30s – don’t want to come to place that’s run down,” he said.

The post has a projector and several TVs in the club area in the basement. The upstairs area includes a beautiful, family-friendly hall. A digital key pad was placed on the front door, replacing the traditional door lock.

“(Lepore) and I knew that we had to make this place look like the kind of place that (young veterans) wanted to join,” said Luker, a sergeant with the Woodland Park Police Department. “When you see all this modernization, it gives you a new approach. It gives you a chance to say … there’s something different going on here.

“This isn’t my grandfather’s American Legion. It still has the same opportunities that my grandfather’s Legion set up for me. It still has all of the benefit that my grandfather has fought for and spent all his time, effort and energy to make sure it was there for me. But it’s time that someone takes those reins on. Young guys need to grab those reins.”

Getting a group of young veterans into the post together – and then having that group bond – also was critical. “Our plan was if that we could a whole bunch of young people to join at once, then they’d know each other and get together,” Lepore said. “We’re still in the process, but that’s basically what we’re doing.”

Daniel Rosado, who served at Camp Pendleton while in the Marines from 2009 to 2013, recently joined the post to get back that sense of camaraderie he had in the military.

“It’s very important,” said Rosado, 31. “(In the military) you build a bond with certain people. You come back here in the civilian world … and not a lot of civilians understand military ways. It’s always good to have some (former) military personnel around you because they know how we speak, how we are.”

Post 238 provides the same draw for Jairo Rodriguez, who served in the Air Force from 2010 to 2014. Rodriguez met Luker last summer and joined the post in September.

“It’s a brotherhood,” said Rodriguez, 30. “You get that same feeling that you had when you were (in the military). We’re just all able to share the same experiences.”

While the focus has been recruiting younger members, Luker said the post has made it clear it is open to veterans of all eras. That was evident during the post’s 2015 Veterans Day dinner, where veterans of multiple eras were represented and mingled with each other.

Veterans Day should be a celebration, Luker said, and that’s what the post has tried to do at its three dinners celebrating the day. “Let’s hang out on Veterans Day and show them the celebration,” Luker said. “And that has an exponential effect. Once you get guys in here going, ‘This is a good time,’ those are the type of things they want to be a part of.”

During the most recent Veterans Day dinner at Post 238, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop – a U.S. Marines veteran – praised the post for what it has become. “Out of all of the highlights I’ve been a part of in the last year … the most inspiring thing I’ve been a part of … is what’s going on here and what Erik and Bob have done,” Fulop said. “To see a (Legion post) that looks like this, with energy and people from different generations … I walk away from this feeling I need to do more in Jersey City. I say that from such a serious place.”

For Rodriguez, joining the Legion wasn’t just a short-term interest. “This is a lifetime for me,” he said. “There’s no way of turning away from this. I’m going to continue to support the guys coming back and definitely try to recruit."