22 American Legion Post

When they came marching home again WWI veterans parading on Main Street. 117 men from Hamilton served their country in the War to End All Wars. Photo, Hamilton His- torical Society Photo: Hamilton His- torical Society History of … Augustus P. Gardner Post, No. 194, of the American Legion Nationally, the idea of a WWI veterans organi- Great War, Liberty League, American Comrades zation began in early 1919. The fighting in the of the Great War, Legion of the Great War, and "war to end all wars" ended in November The American Legion. The later had been used 1918. However, for a great many members of by Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., in 1914, when he the American Expeditionary Force the war called for an organization to prepare for possible was not over, for they were still in Europe. world conflicts. With very little transportation available, they As constituted at a 1919 convention in had to wait months to be brought back home. Minneapolis, the basic units of the Legion are Morale plummeted. The troops needed sup- its Posts. Originally, they consisted of former port back home. military personnel, men and women, living in a Camps in Europe were informed, by an arti- town, part of a large town or a geographic ar- cle in the Mar. 14, 1919 issue of Stars and ea. The term Posts comes from the tradition of Stripes, about the formation of a "permanent the military assigning enlisted personnel to in- nation-wide organization...composed of all stallations called posts. parties, all creeds, and all ranks, who wish to In 2018, 14,000 Posts are in the United perpetuate the relationships formed while in States, with nearly 500 in Massachusetts. 44 military service." 38 The first American Legion Post formed was The WWI organization was not the first the Ferdinand Branstetter Post No. 1 in Van begun to represent war veterans. Following Tassell, WY. Branstetter, a Van Tassell resi- the War to Preserve the Nation, there was the dent, died in World War I. 38 Grand Army of the Republic. Begun in 1866, The first charter issued by The American its peak membership, in 1890, was half a mil- Legion was to the General John Joseph Per- lion. It ceased to exist in 1956, when its last shing Post Number 1 in Washington, D.C. It member died. was organized on Mar. 7, 1919, and obtained Many names for the WWI organization the charter on May 19, 1919. 38 were considered, including Veterans of the _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Treasures of Hamilton History: American Legion, A. L. Gardner, Post 194 Pg. 1 de-activates, its number may be assigned to a new Post.) Prior to the war, Augustus P. Gardner, who lived on Main St, near the Ipswich town line, was very active in Hamilton. He was the sec- retary on the town hall and the South School building committees; served many years as a public library trustee; and in 1917, he was the moderator, at the annual town meeting. 53 Gardner was elected, in 1902, as the Rep- Maj. Augustus P. Gardner, Commander, 1st resentative from the 6th Massachusetts Con- st st Battalion, 121 Infantry, 31 Div., Camp Wheeler, gressional District. In May 1917, he resigned Macon, GA. Photo, from Congress to enter the military service. Later that year, the national Legion ruled He was made a colonel, which at his request that Posts were not to be named after living was reduced to a major, in order that he could persons. The General John Joseph Pershing go to France. He was commander of the 1st Post 1 became the George Washington Post Battalion, 121st Infantry, 31st Div., at Camp 1. 38 Not all Posts include the name of a de- Wheeler, Macon, GA. He died there of pneu- ceased veteran. Post 1, New Bedford was the monia, on Jan. 14, 1918. 53 45 first Post chartered in Massachusetts. (NOTE: The name Augustus P. Gardner Unofficially, the Hamilton American Legion also is used by Post 227, in Middleton. It was Post began soon after Gen. Clarence R. chartered Mar. 21, 1921.) "Daddy" Edwards suggested a post be formed The first Post 194 Commander was Col. during a talk he gave at the Aug. 30, 1919 George C. Donaldson, who as a major orga- Welcome Home Banquet held at the town hall. th 39 nized the 74th Infantry, 12 Div., at Fort The Daddy nickname came from his estab- th Devens. He served as the Post 194 Com- lishing the 26 Div., in July 1917. It was also mander for one year, as did most others that known as the "Yankee Division." followed, until 2014, when Greg McKenna be- Following the Revolutionary War, Hamilton came the Commander. did not create an organization of the Grand A. P. Gardner Post 194, with a membership Army of the Republic, nor was a veterans or- of nearly a hundred, had difficulty in finding a ganization established after the Civil War. meeting place. The Post wanted a place of its Shortly after Gen, Edwards' call to form a own, where veterans seeking help could come post, a small group Hamilton veterans met on on a daily basis. Several Post members, led the second floor of the fire station on Willow by Silas W. Grant, were able to have the town St. They prepared a submission for an Ameri- appoint a committee to find a suitable meeting can Legion charter. 39 place for the A. P, Gardner Post 194. 1 Grant 39 On Sep. 4, 1919, the American Legion is- was the Post Finance Officer for 44 years. sued a charter to the Augustus P. Gardner Realizing that there would soon be a need Post 194. 39 The first meeting was held on the for a burial detail, A. P, Gardner Post 194 es- second floor of the Smith Block on Railroad tablished a rifle squad and color guard the first Ave. (now 52-58 Railroad Ave.) There were year it began. The first rifle squad commander 19 charter members, one of whom, Charles E. was Robert H. Chittick, Jr. He served in this Grant, remained a Post member until 1967. 39 function until 1946, when his son, Robert H. Soon after, it had 87 members. In WWI, 117 III, was appointed, following his discharge Hamilton men served, of whom 17 died. 39 from the army. 42 In the first years of the Legion, there was a In the 1950s, Squad members included: flood of applications for post charters. Posts Edward Manthorn, Donald Duclow, Robert were assigned a number based on when they Tobyne, Gordon Allen, Donald Greeley. Milt submitted their application. The highest as- Dunham, Edward Haraden, Merrill Smallwood, signed number to a Massachusetts Post is Guppy Child, Bob McRae, Neil Mullins, Ray 488, in Dennis. (There have been more Mas- Sanford, Dick Knowlton, Smokey Kosloski, sachusetts Posts, since when an original Post Don Wood, Jim Armstrong and Bob Chittick. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Treasures of Hamilton History: American Legion, A. L. Gardner, Post 194 Pg. 2 The original weapon was the bolt-action, lease for a period not exceeding 5 years, Springfield M1903, the "ought-three." Follow- buildings or parts of buildings, which shall be ing WW2, the Squad switched to the car- under the direction and control of such post or tridge-fed Garand M1. posts, subject to regulations made in cities by Up until 1989, the Squad was all men. the mayor, with the approval of the council Then, Diane Thompson joined. She served to and in towns by vote of the town." A town with 2012. Her father, James H. Dunn also was a a valuation of less than $5 million could annu- 4 member. DT ally appropriate not more than $1,000. The duties of the rifle squad, in addition to Not having a building of its own, A. P. providing full or partial military honors at fu- Gardner Post 194 used several locations for nerals for veterans, whose family request their its meetings. Beginning about 1921, meetings service, include the firing of a three-volley sa- were held at the Willow Street firehouse. Sev- 39 lute at Veterans Day and Memorial Day cere- eral Post members also were firefighters. monies at the Hamilton Cemetery. 42 A meeting place was not the only concern Always a stirring part of the ceremony is of the Great War's veterans. Their service the removal of the flag from the casket. The needed some form of lasting recognitions. honor guard lifts the flag, which has the stars While men from Hamilton had served in the over the left shoulder, straight up and slowly military during wars dating back to the 1600s, folds it to form a tight triangular bundle, with the town had not erected any monuments in only the stars are on the top. A few of the rifle recognition of such service. shells may be inserted into the back fold, be- Discussions about building a monument fore it is presented to the next of kin, with an occasionally were held following Wenham's expression of gratitude for the sacrifice they building, in 1878, of a memorial to those who have made. had served during the War of Rebellion. From In 1987, the Rifle Squad took part in 23 fu- the Hamlet, the predecessor of Hamilton, 76 39 nerals, 8 parades. 62 men fought in that war, of which 10 died. Hamilton appointed, in 1922 a committee 1920s in Search of Recognition of three (one a Civil War veteran, one a Span- As a subsidiary to the American Legion, some ish War veteran, and the commander of the veterans returning from France formed, in American Legion Post) to erect a memorial to 1920, a group called "The Forty & Eight." The the soldiers, sailors and marines of all wars.

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