Fellowship among veterans: Coeur d'Alene American Legion seeks new members

COEUR d’ALENE — When Joe Deacon moved to Kootenai County, he the joined local American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars organizations.

“It was to fill a void in my life,” Deacon said. “All of a sudden, this group of guys is there and they take care of each other. Sincere friendships are developed.” 

Deacon said younger veterans might not realize how good it is to be looked out for by fellow former service members. 

“If someone doesn’t show up for coffee and doughnuts, they go call, just like you haven’t heard from a good friend. It's a feeling of being surrounded by a protective group of people,” Deacon said. 

Although the organization has 131 members on paper, he said American Legion Post 14 Coeur d’Alene is looking for more active members to keep the veteran resource viable for future generations of veterans. 

Deacon and Jerry Staub of Post 14 hope to reignite American Legion traditions while keeping with the times. 

“We want to resurrect and enhance what better fits into the 21st century,” Deacon said. 

Post 14 of Coeur d’Alene was established in 1919, the year the first American Legion was formed. 

Today, the group financially supports American Legion baseball, Boys State and Girls State events for youth, the Idaho State Veterans Home in Post Falls, St. Vincent de Paul, Kootenai County Veteran’s Service and college scholarships. 

Post 14 members also volunteer for Newby-ginnings of North Idaho and at the North Idaho Veterans Stand Down.  

For Staub, it’s all about meeting veterans where they are.

“We've been there. We’ve had some of the issues, we’ve had the injuries and the effects of warfare,” Staub said. 

Staub said they are looking into forming Coeur d’Alene iterations of the American Legion Auxiliary and Sons of the American Legion offshoot groups. 

Post 14 also wants to get more involved in teaching students patriotic lessons such as how to fold the flag to present to families after the death of a member of the military and bring back the oratorical contests they used to hold for high school students. 

“Things have changed a lot. They’re constantly changing, but we want to make sure the lesson isn’t lost,” Staub said.  

On the veteran direct support side of the organization, they want to look into aiding with mental health crises veterans may experience by providing buddy check phone calls to members, benefits counseling and suicide prevention services. 

Post 14 also wants to be able to assist fellow veterans with rides to the doctor.

“Some people are shut-ins and they don’t have family and we want to be able to help folks like that to a better degree of what we’ve been able to do," Staub said. “To do community service is what we’re all about. This is a community within a community.” 

To learn more about joining Post 14, call 208-699-6540 or email [email protected].