American Legion . . .

I am a current member of the American Legion but do not belong to a local post.  So the American Legion assigned me to the state chapter in Austin, TX.  That is okay with me.  It means I am a member in good standing with the American Legion.

I was a member in Redlands, CA in the early 1990s and they had a very active chapter and chapter operation.  It was sort of a private club, membership only kind of place and could serve alcohol beverages when it want to.  They also put on a nice lunch every day.  Having said that, I never attended anything there, I was just a member so to speak.

The American Legion was after me to renew my membership, I had let it lapse when I left California and moved to New Mexico.  Every year they would send me an application.  I decided we were not going to move ever again, so I signed up again.  I have been an active member, that is a dues paying member, for a couple of years now.

The local post called me and asked if I would move my membership to their chapter.  More members meant a good thing to them.  So I said, "Okay, sign me up."  But that was not enough, I had to come down and sign up.  Okay, I figured they needed a signature to make the membership transfer to work.  No big deal.

I went down to the post and it was locked up tighter than drum.  Strictly after 5 PM operation.  That's okay.  I let them know I had come around and they were closed.

Today I got a telephone call saying my membership had been submitted to the local chapter poo-bahs and approved pending I prove I am eligible to join.  Whoa, I said to myself, :"Hey, self if I am already a member of the American Legion and have been a member in good standing, why do I have to prove I am eligible to join?  I mean I am already a member."

So, no I am not going to go down and prove I am eligible.  I will just stay with the state wide general membership and let the locals stew.  I was given the line that they had to approve my eligibility by law.  That is a crock.  I mean, if I have been a member in another state, and I am now a member in this state, why would the law require me to prove anything about eligibility - again?  That smells to me.  Something is just not right.

So I will not be joining the local chapter or post.  They pressed the issue a little to far for me.  Such explanations that it is the law does not make sense to me as a long standing member.  Just a bit fishy.  So I am not transferring to the local chapter.  Perhaps a membership in the local Veterans of Foreign Wars is more appropriate.

Perhaps I am testy.  But as I get older, I sense more and more that there is no free lunch and that someone is always after what you have especially in the way of money.  So it is not a mandatory thing for me to do in joining the local American Legion post, just sort of a civic thing to do.  I am already a life member of Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) and a life member of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV).