News
A history of the veterans' post in Bottineau County
Heather Milbrath
06/11/2013
Editor’s Note: Bottineau Courant staff writer, Heather Milbrath, will be writing a series on veterans’ posts and organizations in Bottineau County. Milbrath will be writing about the different types of posts and organizations and their histories in the County. This week, she looks at the different types of veterans’ posts and organizations that exist in Bottineau County.
There are many organizations aimed at helping veterans in Bottineau County. In Bottineau there are the AMVETS, The American Legion and The Veterans of Foreign Wars. All three of these organizations have membership based upon veterans’ service and their key goals are service to the communities. Although all three are housed in the same building in Bottineau, there are key differences between each one.
AMVETS is the youngest of the three groups, and the most lenient for accepting members. AMVETS was originally formed as the American Veterans of World War II on Dec. 10 1944. According o the AMVETS website “membership in AMVETS is open to anyone who is currently serving, or who has honorably served, in the U.S. Armed Forces from World War II to the present, to include the National Guard and Reserves.”
The only AMVET Post in Bottineau County is the Bottineau Post.
The American Legion was chartered in 1919 as a patriotic veteran organizations. The Legion is more strict than the AMVETS for permitting membership. In order to qualify for the Legion, one must have served in any of the following wars: Gulf War, War on Terror, Vietnam War, Korean War, World War I, World War II, as well as service in Lebanon, Grenada and Panama. There are specific dates for service in each of these wars that are also taken into account when considering membership.
The Legion has many programs within the organization; two of the most notable are Legion Baseball and American Legion Riders. American Legion Baseball was founded in 1925, stressing the importance athletics play in the development of young people. Bottineau Post 42 is the only Legion post with a baseball team in the county.
Legion Riders are another division of the American Legion. There are currently 106,000 Legion Riders known for their charitable work. They are also known for a group within the Legion Riders called the Patriot Guard. These individuals serve as barricades at military funerals against protestors. The Bottineau Post has an American Legion Riders Group.
The Legion currently has over 2.4 million members in 14,000 posts. In North Dakota alone there is 226 Legion Posts. There are three legion posts in Bottineau County, including Bottineau Post 42, Willow City Post 112 and Lansford Post 279.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) is the oldest and strictest group of the three. The VFW has roots back to 1899. After the Spanish-American War and Philippine Insurrection were over, local organizations were founded to help veterans secure their benefits from their service. Also, many of those who served returned wounded or sick, and there was no medical care at that time for them.
The VFW was created to help these veterans and has continued this mission of service.
To join the VFW nowadays, one had to have served honorably in an oversees conflict. There are some other factors that could qualify a veteran, but the key with the VFW was serving in a foreign war.
The VFW Posts in the county are located in Bottineau and Westhope.
There are also two VFW Auxiliary Posts in Bottineau County, located in Bottineau and Westhope. The Auxiliary is the women’s organization associated with the VFW. Members can be wives, widows, mothers, daughters, sisters and granddaughters to persons who are eligible for VFW membership. Ladies Auxiliary conducts many service projects in the county.