POST 158 WILL JOIN IN LEGION CELEBRATION

A gala birthday party is being planned by Altenthal-Joerns Post 158 of the American Legion in Jackson as part of the Legion's worldwide observance of its 82th anniversary in March, Post Commander Bill Sullivan announced recently.

Under a special committee headed by Bill Poe, the 82th birthday will be observed with a banquet March 15 at the Legion Hall in Jackson. Happy Hour is at 5:30 p.m.; the banquet at 6:45 p.m.

Other members of the committee are Mike Proctor, Milton Nitsch, Jack Latimer, Jim Nelson and Tom Sperling. Special guests will be Del Snodgrass of Lockwood, Mo., the director of the John J. Pershing Veterans Hospital in Poplar Bluff, Mo., a representative of Veterans Affairs nursing home, Jackson Mayor Paul Sander, members of the Jackson Board of Aldermen and Cape Girardeau County commissioners.

The festivities of Post 158 will be part of a gigantic anniversary celebration among 1,600 American Legion posts throughout the nation.

The American Legion was founded March 15 through 17 in 1919 during a caucus in Paris, France, attended by the representatives of the various outfits of The American Expeditionary Forces of World War I.

The organization has since opened its ranks to veterans of World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, Desert Storm and Bosnia, Commander Sullivan explained.

As part of the preparation, Post 158 is winding up its 2001 membership drive, he reported.

The birthday period also marks a major target date for enrollment nationally, and each department is striving to meet its assigned goal.

Sullivan extended an invitation to all war veterans of the community to become Legionnaires and be a part of the complete program of "We Help America Work."

Eligibility dates are April 6, 1918, through Nov. 11, 1918; Dec. 7, 1941, Dec. 31, 1946; June 25, 1950, through Dec. 31, 1955; Dec. 28, 1961 through May 7, 1965; Aug. 24, 1982, through July 31, 1984, and Dec. 20, 1989, through Jan. 31, 1990; Aug. 2, 1990, until cessation; all dates inclusive.