Our Programs

Youth programs

• Leadership and sportsmanship: The post hosts and supports youth programs designed to promote leadership and sportsmanship. These often include national American Legion initiatives, such as:

  • American Legion Baseball: An athletic program that teaches young people the importance of sportsmanship, citizenship, and fitness.

  • Boys State and Boys Nation: Programs that educate future leaders about government and civics.

  • Junior Shooting Sports: Programs that provide youth with gun safety education, marksmanship skills, and competition opportunities. 

    Veteran and family support

    • Mental health initiatives: The post is committed to destigmatizing mental health issues and provides peer-to-peer resources for veterans.

    • Suicide prevention: It actively participates in efforts to prevent veteran suicide.

    • Benefits assistance: As a chapter of the American Legion, it helps connect veterans with their earned benefits, including VA disability claims.

    • Veteran radio program: In 2018, the post was featured in a veterans' program on CAN-TV (Chicago Access Network Television) that discussed issues facing veterans.

    • Veteran welcome initiatives: The post has issued public invitations to welcome veterans to attend meetings and learn about their work.

    • Memorial services: The post has participated in events such as Memorial Day ceremonies at Oak Woods Cemetery, including parades and wreath layings. 

  Community outreach

  • Community strengthening: The post works to strengthen the local community through various impactful programs.

  • Support for military families: The post is dedicated to helping military families by providing resources and support.

  • Community partnerships: The post has historically worked with other community organizations, such as its past collaboration with the Coalition of Veterans Organizations (CVO). 

A USCT soldier and his family, circa 1863

Soldiers of the 4th United States Colored Troops, circa 1864. These men were permitted to enlist after the Emancipation Proclamation, issued on January 1, 1863, allowed men of color to serve in the “Colored Regiments” of the United States Army.

Black soldiers who fought in the U.S. Civil War. historymartinez.wordpress.com

Enoch Long, Union Private at Benton Barracks, Missouri, ca. 1863–65. Quarter-plate hand tinted tintype. Courtesy the Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, DC.

Corp. Wilson Weir was a slave when he joined the Union army at age 21. "My initial attraction to old photos was purely aesthetic, and this still continues to be the dominant motivating factor," writes Coddington. "This carte de visite meets and exceeds my criteria. ... He wears his hat at a jaunty angle, perhaps reflective of his character."