Legionnaires bring energy back into Ohio post

A large table inside a restaurant in the small town of Graveport, Ohio, hosts the camaraderie of an American Legion Family. At the table sits Lewis "Big Lew" Compton Jr., who greets everyone with a contagious smile, Stan Belville, Dave Patterson, Rick Compton and Gary Bird.

The group was instrumental in bringing a renewed spirit and energy back into American Legion Robert Dutro Post 486 over the past two years.

Post 486 was chartered in 1921, and named after a 15-year-old who signed up for World War I and was killed in battle. The post had been dormant for nearly six years until nearly 20 Legionnaires, mostly Legion Riders, gathered at the post in September 2015 to bring the historical post back to life. “The Riders really were the start,” said Post 486 Commander Lewis Compton, who was the chaplin when the post was revitalized.

Now the post rallies around the community on good and bad days, one of the many reasons for the revitalization. “When we started the post that was one of our things, we said we were going to be community-minded,” said Post Adjutant Rick Compton.

The Legion members take great pride in their community by supporting a local food pantry that caters to veterans and a military museum that rivals any in the nation. And a field of honor where 1,200 veterans are buried is maintained almost solely by Bird, and now the Boy Scouts have an annual Memorial Day service there.

“Were constantly trying to get involved with more and more things with the community,” Lewis said. “If there is an event in Groveport, we are there somehow.”

They truly live the spirit of mutual helpfulness at Post 486 with the Riders chapter and Sons of The American Legion work together by participating in both the Groveport Memorial Day parade and Fourth of July parade.

“We did three ceremonies this year for Memorial Day; we were really busy but it was very rewarding. People enjoyed seeing that,” Lewis said. “We wouldn’t have an honor guard if we didn’t have the SAL and the Riders, which is huge. This is where the community really sees us the most.”

Post 486 hit an all time high for membership last year with 61 members. The last time it was that high was in 1935.

They have about four World War II members, but the overall membership age is around 40 and very invovled. And prior to the revitalization the post didn't have a Sons squadron. “The different (Legion Family) groups are always there for each other,” said SAL Squadron Commander Stan Belville.

But being a part of the community is more then festivals and parades. This community needed to come together in a recent time of need when the city of Groveport experienced a great deal of flood damage caused by torrential rains in mid-July.

“It was one of the heaviest rains I’ve seen, and I've lived here 57 years,” Bird said. “I think there's $250,000 worth of damage just to the city properties. We just had massive rain, way more than normal."

First Vice Commander Robert W. Goza and National Executive Committee Member John Kershner both suffered major losses to their homes. Goza had over 2 feet of raw sewage back up into his home and Kershner had water flood up to the rafters.

As the storm started, Kershner went to the hardware store to pick up some bags of sand to block a pipe so that their yard wouldn't fill up. When he came back the water was coming up across the street and was not moving. “It was really bad because the only other way through is over the top of the road,” Kershner said. “And once it gets to that point things get bad. We've never before seen anything like this.”

Kershner was then helping the neighbors get their pumps going as his own house was filling with water.

“The water came up really fast and higher than it’s ever come and ended up at our front door. Came up through our garage and came through our crawl spaces, it was pouring out really fast so our pumps cant even go anywhere. At one point the valve blew apart. The water didn’t have anywhere to go.” So Kershner had to pump the water out of the windows.

Kershner took multiple trips across the rising water to get his dogs, wife and car to safety. His boat at the end of the house came off its stands. Fish were swimming across the street. Kershner used a landing net from his boat to save stranded fish in something he dubbed the Kershner carp rescue. “You’ve got to try to have some fun in all of this," he said.

Goza described that day when nearly 3 feet of raw sewage flooded his basement. His two young children were home at the time and he called his wife to get everyone out safely. He looked up and saw the magnitude of what was happening as far as five houses up. “I started grabbing all the stuff I could. Anything I could do, I shut off gas, I shut off electric, anything that was a danger of causing a hazard or explosion.”

When Goza's career brought him to Groveport he quickly got involved with the local post. They showed up on motorcycles to welcome him to the area. “That really impressed me a lot and was such a great help in trying to get rooted into the community here,” he said.

“In the end, we’ve got a lot to be thankful for and the Legion has been amazing,” Kershner said. “A lot of help, a lot of offers for help. The Legion members showed up in different shifts and helped us greatly, and we wouldn’t have gotten this stuff out without their assistance. They had four or five gentlemen at different times coming and helping out."

The first 72 hours were crucial and the workload was more then a single family could handle. “We've just tried to come up with ways that we can help support them,” Lewis said. They have used their own trucks, dump trailers, and sweat equity to do whatever they can to help.

It’s been over three weeks since the flooding, and they are still digging out as is the community, however, there were remnants of memories they were able to salvage. Kershner described the emotional roller coaster of going through his belongings.

“I would find a picture, my sons picture, of him in his (U.S. Army) Special Forces outfit. So I pulled the picture out and I could see the beret, but his face was gone so I was sad," Kershner said. "But then (my wife) Cheryl later found other copies elsewhere so we've had these,we've had these moments where we are throwing away … you are coming across a negative like this and they are all gone.”

Lewis said everyone is trying to rebuild. “They are moving in the right direction but still not there. They are still just trying to figure things out, and we've made ourselves available if they need a working party or whatever. We'll go over there as needed.”

Kershner and Goza also helped their neighbors in the midst of their own struggles. “As we went through all the clean up and devastation, every once in a while I would put on my Legion hat and say, ‘What can I do for my fellow citizens on this street?'” Goza said. “Fellow people within my grasp. Home Depot, Lowes, anyone I could reach out to I basically went there and asked, ‘Can you help, can you donate?’"

Goza is spearheading fundraisers for the surrounding community, including an upcoming spaghetti dinner that will support flood victims.

Goza described how much it meant for members of the community to offer assistance in their time of need.

“We have not only The American Legion Family, but this community who is very open and good hearted,” Goza said. “There's good people around us.”