Joseph B. Westnedge Post 36, PO Box 19248 , Kalamazoo, Michigan 49019 | Phone 269-348-0220
Our Beginnings
Kalamazoo Veterans Were Quick to Found American Legion Post in 1919.
Kalamazoo Gazette, 1969
By Llyle Rapp,
(Past Commander Post 36,1925),
It
didn’t
take
the
Kalamazoo
veterans
who
had
already
returned
from
service
in
WWI
long
to
formalize
plans
for
an
American
Legion
post
here
after
receiving
notice
that
such
an
organization
for
United
States
veterans
had
been
organized
at
the
caucus
in
Paris,
France
March
15
–
17,
1919.
The
first
informal
meeting
of
local
veterans
to
organize
a
post
was
held
Friday
night,
March
21,
1919
in
the
Armory.
Between
28
and
30
Kalamazoo
veterans
attended.
Their
first
meeting
was
devoted
entirely
to
a
review
and
explanation
of
actions
taken
at
the
Paris
caucus,
especially a study of the principles and objectives approved by the Americans in Paris.
So
much
interest
was
evidenced
at
the
first
local
meeting
that
a
second
meeting
was
scheduled
the
next
week
on
Friday,
March
28,
when
all
veterans present were asked to invite other veterans to attend. Ralph Henshaw and Milton Courtney were named co-chairmen.
Several
more
organizational
meetings
were
held
during
April,
and
one
action
taken
by
the
local
veterans
was
to
postpone
the
official
organization of the post until “Kalamazoo’s own” Company C., 126th Infantry, 2nd division had returned home. The arrival date was May 20.
With
the
Co.
C
boys
back,
the
organization
process
quickened
and
by
mid-August
the
Kalamazoo
post,
which
had
been
unanimously
named
in
honor
of
the
late
Col.
Joseph
B.
Westnedge,
commander
of
the
126th
Infantry
and
who
died
of
pneumonia
in
France
shortly
after
the
Nov.
11
signing of the Armistice, elected officers and applied for a charter. The charter was granted in September.
The
only
difficulty
encountered
in
recruiting
charter
members
in
the
post-
a
minor
one-
was
the
belief
on
the
part
of
some
veterans
that
a
clouded
purpose
of
the
American
Legion
might
be
to
obtain
signatures
of
veterans
who
might
later
be
obligated
by
the
United
States
government to return to military service. This misconception was successfully overcome within a few weeks.
Capt.
James
M.
Wilson
of
Company
C.
was
elected
the
first
commander.
Among
other
officers
were
Wilbur
W.
Kramb;
Milton
Courtney;
Alfred
Eagelton; Lt. W. Douglas Hall, Company C., who attended the Paris caucus; Ralph Henshaw; Nell Priester; Truman Strong; and Llyle Rapp.
After
completion
of
the
organization
in
August,
the
new
Post
rented
the
former
Knights
of
Pythias
hall
on
W.
Michigan,
where
it
met
for
a
year.
The
post
then
moved
to
quarters
over
the
former
Home
Savings
Bank
on
W.
Michigan,
until
it
outgrew
those
quarters.
In
the
meantime,
even
before
the
Armistice,
patriotic
citizens
of
Kalamazoo
had
drafted
a
plan
to
erect
a
veterans’
memorial
building
on
the
vacant
lot
on
E.
South
St.
and had obtained pledges of several thousand dollars, but the plan did not materialize.
Somewhat
frustrated,
and
without
a
post
home,
the
Legionnaires
assembled
forces
late
one
night
in
1924
and
with
shovels,
picks
and
carpenter’s
tools,
swarmed
in
the
vacant
lot
on
E.
South
(proposed
site
of
the
memorial
building)
and
built
a
post
“home”
which
they
dubbed
“the Legion Dugout”. Half under and half above ground, the dugout served as a meeting place for several weeks.
The
Legionnaires
in
the
meantime
inaugurated
a
campaign
to
collect
on
pledges
previously
made
toward
the
memorial
under
direction
of
past
commander
Wilson
and
the
post
home
committee.
The
campaign
yielded
sufficient
funds
and
the
post
purchased
the
Charles
Peck
home
at
421
W.
South
St.
with
an
additional
generous
contribution
from
the
Peck
family.
The
post
moved
into
the
home
in
1925.
The
only
later
move
was
a
few years after World War II when the former Jewish synagogue at 433 E. South was purchased and still serves as the post home. *
Kalamazoo
has
been
the
home
of
six
American
Legion
posts
since
World
War
I.
Most
active
now
are
Joseph
B.
Westnedge
Post
36
and
Kalamazoo
Post
332.
Outpost
Post,
organized
during
World
War
II,
still
has
its
charter.
Posts
which
have
become
inactive
were
the
Hanes-Molloy
Post, Phillips Carr Post, and Dr. Caroline Bartlett Carr Post for women veterans.
American Legion Post 36 Officers, 1919
1- R. Wheeler Rickman, Finance Officer 2- Carl D. Proctor, Vice-Cmdr. 3- James M. Wilson, Cmdr. 4- Charles B. Bietry, Historian, 5- J. W. Kramb,
Adjutant 6- Grant Church, Chaplain, 7- Wm. Waite, Sgt. at Arms.