Legionnaires support troops, raise awareness about their mission

Military deployments often don’t receive the publicity and recognition that U.S. servicemembers deserve as they prepare to leave their families. Two American Legion posts are helping to change that.

American Legion Post 49 in Tupelo, Miss., is letting the 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team know they are appreciated and not forgotten during their nine-month deployment in Kuwait. With community support, the post is sending care packages to each guard member with a delivery date of Nov. 11 – end of World War I and first American Legion national convention.

“This goes back to the core mission of the Legion, which is taking care of veterans, taking care of troops, taking care of families,” Post 49 Commander Mike Pettigrew, who served in the 155th and deployed to Iraq, told the Daily Journal.

American Legion Post 1799 in Haymarket, Va., created a partnership with the 455th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron (ECES) after a post member’s deployed son shared that the U.S. public doesn’t realize just how many U.S. servicemembers are still deployed to Afghanistan.

The Legion has provided the squadron with pocket U.S. Constitutions to better explain the U.S. mission in Afghanistan; magazines with a focus on history, military topics and outdoor activities; and videos of local Junior ROTC students delivering greetings and thanks. A local preschool saw a news release about Post 1799’s program and is now sending greeting cards and videos of the young children singing to the 455th ECES.

“It’s a two-way street, in a sense that the folks in the squadron would benefit from any effort that increased public awareness back here in the United States. And of course The American Legion would benefit from having an opportunity to assist our personnel in uniform,” said Bob Wyman, whose son, U.S. Air Force 1st Sgt. Robert Donald Wyman, is deployed with the 455th ECES. “It’s a distraction that clearly gives them a link back to the states. It’s a matter of bringing public awareness to this.”