Lycoming County Veterans Affairs

 

Local Veterans Service Organizations

*American Legion Posts*

 

  Garrett Cochran 1876 - 1918
      (photo courtesy of American Legion Post 1)

Meets 3rd Tuesday of the month, 8:00pm

Post 1 - Pennsylvania’s First American Legion Post

The Legion was founded on March 15, 1919, during a caucus convened in Paris, France, by Lt. Col. Theodore Roosevelt,                                                                            son of President Teddy Roosevelt. One of the colonel’s friends with whom he talked about his plans was Carl A. Schug, later                                                                      a district attorney of Lycoming County. Mr. Schug was enthusiastic about the idea of a veteran’s organization and, although                                                          hospitalized in France, backed it strongly.

When, in May 1919, a caucus was called by Roosevelt for St. Louis, Mayor Archibald M. Hoagland appointed Byron C. Houck,                                                              then city clerk, and Lydell S. Spangle, later a chief clerk to the county commissioners, to represent Williamsport. They attended.

Enroute home, Mr. Spangle was present in a railroad coach wile Colonel Roosevelt, Franklin Dolier and George Tyler, two                                                          Pennsylvanians, discussed launching the Legion in this state. They faced the problem of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh vying for                                                               Post No. 1. At this point Mr. Spangle suggested the honor of the first unit be given to “a Central Pennsylvania city” with Nos.                                                                       2 and 3 going to the metropolitan cities.

His idea was endorsed with the result that Williamsport became the home of Pennsylvania’s first American Legion Post;                                                                           Mr. Schug was chosen first commander; Mr. Spangle, the first adjutant; with Mr. Houck and Carl W. Herdic being prominent in                                                organizational efforts.

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Sign at Post 35, Hughesville	Plaque at Post 35, Hughesville

American Legion Post 35

Glenn Sharrow
76 N. Main St.
Hughesville , PA  17737
Phone: 570-584-2123

The following is reprinted from the 1952 Souvenir Booklet commemorating the 100th anniversary of                                                Hughesville, PA. In that publication, it was noted that the following article appeared originally in a                                                  November 1918 edition of the Hughesville Mail.

Hughesville was awakened at 4:15 o’clock on Monday morning by the ringing of the Methodist church bell by the pastor, the Rev. J. C. Young,                                      after he was notified of the armistice by Burgess Lyon. It was but a few minutes until the whistles, bells, and fire alarms spread the good news                                          of the end of World War I. The streets were filled with people, overjoyed with the news, a bonfire was lighted, and a parade was formed. A                                thanksgiving service was held in the afternoon at the Methodist Church, which was very well attended. When the world was celebrating the great                             victory, one heart was made sad by the news of the death of her son in action at the front. The following letter came to Mrs. Addie Sharrow at                         Philadelphia, Pa., dated Oct. 12, 1918:

"Dear Madam: It is with a heavy heart that I write this letter, yet I would not miss the opportunity to express my sympathy and the sympathy of the                              battery to you in your hour of bereavement."Your son, Glenn, joined us at Souge [France], where he had a detail in the artillery school. He could                                     not endure to lose his chance to do his bit at the Front, and came up with us. He has been a great help to me in the battery and his work always                        recommended him for higher rank. "He fell serving his gun under shellfire and death was instantaneous. I have personally seen to it that he had a                            suitable burial, and that his grave is properly marked.

American Legion Post 104
Eugene Grafius
1312 Broad St.
Montoursville , PA  17754
Phone: 570-368-9000

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American Legion Post 251
Bower Decker
185 Broad St.
Montgomery , PA  17752
Phone: 570-547-2039

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American Legion Post 268
Roland Ritter
515 Legion Rd.
Muncy , PA  17756
Phone: 570-546-5210

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American Legion Post 617
Royal P. Steinbacher
901 Market Street
South Williamsport, PA 17702
Phone: 570-327-0255

 *Veterans of Foreign Wars Posts*

                                                                           

(Memorial and tank at VFW Post 3428, Muncy)

 

(Signage and plaque at VFW Post 5859, Jersey Shore)

 

War Memorial at Hughesville	Memorial Closeup

(Korean War Veterans Memorial on Wahoo Drive, Williamsport)

Korean War Veterans of Lycoming County
P.O. Box 3232
Williamsport, PA 17701
Contact Howard Wilt, Phone: 570-745-3775
(to arrange military funerals)

                                                                                                                                                              

Forty & Eight Voiture 382

info being updated

La Societe des Quarante Hommes at Huit Chevaux is an independent fraternal organization of U. S. veterans,                                          more commonly known as the Forty & Eight.

The Forty & Eight was formed in 1920 by American Legionnaires as an honor society and from its earliest days it has been                                committed to charitable aims.  Membership is by invitation for members of the American Legion who have shown exemplary                        service.  All Forty & Eight members are thus veterans of congressionally recognized wartime periods via their Legion membership. 

The Forty & Eight’s titles and symbols reflect its First World War origins.  American servicemen in France were transported to                              the battle front on narrow gauge French railroads (Chemin de Fer) inside boxcars (Voitures) that were half the size of American                              boxcars.  Each French boxcar was stenciled with a “40/8”, denoting its capacity to hold either forty men or eight horses.  This                ignominious and uncomfortable mode of transportation was familiar to all who traveled from the coast to the trenches; a common                   small misery among American soldiers who thereafter found “40/8” a lighthearted symbol of the deeper service, sacrifice and                            unspoken horrors of war that truly bind those who have borne the battle. (from http://fortyandeight.org)

                                                                                                                                                                 

 
  Wiilliamsport Detachment 388
Marine Corps League Inc.
507 Cemetery Street ,Williamsport ,Pa. 17701
Commandant Barron Zimmers
Phone: 570-323-9900

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Disabled American Veterans 

Chapter 47

P.O. Box 3372 

Williamsport, PA 17701

570-244-6649

Meeting on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 10 E. Third Street, Wmspt @6:oopm