Mutual respect across the water
Dr. Sean Mahar (far left) and a group of British Legion members at Remembrance Day commemorations in Shrewsbury, England. (Photo via Sean Mahar)

Mutual respect across the water

The Royal British Legion, like The American Legion, is an organization devoted to remembering and supporting military veterans. Thus the two entities have something of an affinity – the British Legion’s national chairman often comes to speak at the American Legion national convention, and members have even participated in the Legacy Run.

That affinity holds true on the other side of the Atlantic as well. Dr. Sean Mahar has been an American Legion member for 30 years. His post is Fr. Francis Duffy Post IR02 in County Kerry, Ireland, but he has been based in the United Kingdom for 20 years. (He credits the post’s “very proactive adjutant, John Canty, who goes out of his way to communicate with us by email.”) And Mahar has found himself involved in activities of the local British Legion.

“My collaborations … stem from my location,” he says. “I know some British Legion members from the local pub and just got folded into their activities such as Remembrance Day commemorations (a big thing here, kind of like Memorial Day and Veterans Day at once, in November) and trips to sites like the national Memorial Arboretum. The interactions started before the pandemic, and being unable to travel has just strengthened the bond. It is reassuring to see veterans valued in the UK and Ireland like the United States.”