The Jesse C. Lynch Memorial American Legion Post 71 has a new commander.
Ralph Wainright will take over after David Myers moved to North Carolina after a vote on Memorial Day.
"It is an honor to serve as the commander of such a great veterans organization, the American Legion," Wainright said. "I had been asked by the nominating committee for several years if I would accept the nomination for commander, but with other commitments I couldn't devote the time that I felt I needed to be a good commander. My fellow Legionnaires were excited when they found out I was running for commander, and even more excited when I was elected to the highest Post position."
Wainright joined the American Legion in 1995 at Post 9 in Brunswick, Georgia. He transferred his membership to Post 71 in 2006.
He was born in White Oak, Georgia, and said with the draft looking at him he decided to enlist in the Army. He was in the Ordinance Corps working on trucks and tanks. He had four overseas tours - three in Germany and one in Korea. Stateside, he also had stops in Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Jackson for two tours and Fort Leonard Wood, in Missouri.
"I obtained the rank of First Sergeant, E-8, during my 24 years of service," Wainright said. "After retirement, I worked as an area training manager of several auto parts companies. I started in Brunswick, then moved to Atlanta where I was covering 12 states and had 750 locations, and finally settled in North Augusta before retiring in 2012."
Wainright said he plans to continue the programs in place at Post 71 to help veterans, widows, children of veterans and the community. He also hopes to get the community more involved with the Legion family.
"We are not just the American Legion, but we are a family," he said. "We have the Ladies Auxiliary Unit 71; ladies whose husband, father or grandfather served in the military may join the auxiliary. The Sons of the American Legion is for young men that may not have served in the military, but their father or grandfather served. If you are a member of the Legion, Auxiliary or SAL, and have a motorcycle, you can join the American Legion Riders. The American Legion also has a Ceremonial Corps that performs military honors to our fallen veterans, and also presents the national colors to open and closing ceremonies in the communities.
"The American Legion Riders ride escorts for veterans funerals, and also have a Post-level and statewide Legacy Scholarship Ride to raise funds for scholarships for surviving children of veterans that have given the ultimate sacrifice in the war on terrorism since Sept. 11, 2001. This year, ALR Chapter 71 presented a check to the department commander for $5,462, and the department commander will present a check to the national commander at the National American Legion Conference for over $52,000 raised by all chapters in South Carolina."
The American Legion Department of South Carolina held its state conference the last weekend in May. According to Wainright, one of the main topics brought up was membership.
"There are veterans all over the state, as well as in the North Augusta area, that are not members of the American Legion or other veterans organizations," he said. "Currently, American Legion Post 71 has 342 members, and a lot of our members are veterans from World War II and Korea and are passing away. We need new members to fill the ranks of the Post so we can better serve veterans and the community. One of my goals is to increase membership, and retain the members we do have."
Post 71 has weekly breakfast meetings at 7 a.m. Wednesdays that are open to the public and prospective members. The monthly membership meetings are the last Monday of each month at 6 p.m.
Scott Rodgers is the news editor at The North Augusta Star and has been with the paper since 2013.