Stand up and be counted – Veterans in Chapel Hill
There are a lot of veterans in Chapel Hill, but not all are affiliated with the American Legion or one of the many other groups. Does that include you?
Besides the American Legion, we have Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Carolina Veterans Organization, Vietnam Veterans, Marine Corps League, Disabled American Veterans and more in Chapel Hill and neighboring communities. Many meet or work with our post to serve the community, veterans, and their families.
Veterans join together to share their talents and skills with others. Some just want to network. Some want to care for the elderly. Some want to create a Veterans Garden, go fishing, or be a post handyman. Some want to spend a day away from the house or get out of their apartment to just relax. Whatever your desires, the American Legion has one of the most beautiful sites for your pleasure.
You can fish for hours in a recently stocked pond that has trout jumping and just looking for your hook. But, it’s “member’s only fishing,” so you will need to join the post first.
Thousands of veterans have lived and worked at Chapel Hill Post 6. They created our post home from rolling hills and rustic woodlands that were unfit for easy construction. They dug a bigger hole to create a pond so that they would have fill dirt for the post home. That pond still provides enjoyment for our vets and was just restocked by a member as a gift to the veterans and our scouts.
They also brought in fill dirt from the site that would soon be Performance Auto on Fordham Blvd. Scouts built an amphitheater among the trees out back and included walking trails for scouts and post families. We built a baseball field for American Legion Baseball. All this was done with an idea that their home would be a place for their successors. If you are a veteran, that means it was built for you and your family.
We have been in our home now for over 50 years! We have also been in Chapel Hill for nearly 100 years! Now we are working on moving to a new site and a new post home for today’s veterans and their families.
We look forward to welcoming new members each month. Just last month we gained five new members! How about you?
Come on by our post for dinner at our next meeting. We meet at the American Legion Post 6 Home at 1714 Legion Road, Chapel Hill, NC 27517. Drop by at about 6 pm for our social hour. You’ll meet and greet other veterans and their families. Then, at 7 pm, we sit down for dinner created by a long time member that drives to Chapel Hill from faraway Henderson to continue a family tradition that goes back three generations!
Our meeting starts after dinner at 8 pm. If you’re not a member, you are our guest for dinner and refreshments. You can join the day you visit and your first year dues are on the post, they are free!
What are the qualifications for membership? You just have to have served at least one day on active duty during a declared time of war and be honorably discharged. That means that if you have served on active duty since 9/11, you are qualified. Other conflicts? If you have a service ribbon for National Defense or equivalent, you qualify.
Have questions? Just call and speak to Bob. You can reach Bob at: 919-883-6000. You can also email the post adjutant at [email protected].