The Civil War, which ended in the spring of 1865, claimed over 620,000 lives - more lives than any conflict in U.S. history. It required the establishment of the country’s first national cemeteries. In 1868, May 30th was declared a day to remember those fallen in the Civil War. The date May 30th was chosen primarily because it was not a date of any particular battle over the years of the war. Initially called Decoration Day, in 1967 the name was changed to Memorial Day, and in 1971 the date was changed to the last Monday in May.

Members of the American Legion Post 212 and their volunteers helped the Easter Bunny this year by stuffing plastic eggs for him to hide for Union County children. And hide he did! Over 60 kids descended on Wilson Park on an absolutely gorgeous Easter Sunday afternoon to find these eggs – and, boy, did they!! No matter how well the eggs were hidden, these young people (some with a little help from their parents) found all the eggs. Three of these eggs contained a $50 gift card to Walmart.

Calling all Veterans! What better way to celebrate April Fool’s Day than to be at the American Legion building at noon to feast on Veteran Volunteer Margo McCaffery’s Famous American Goulash! Sometimes called slumgullion, American goulash is a comfort food dish based on the Hungarian goulash stew. The ground beef, tomato and macaroni are in a beautifully seasoned tomato sauce. Shredded cheese and sour cream will be available for garnish.

When we asked for volunteers to support the veterans, people from all over Union County raised their hands and the Union County Veterans Volunteers was formed. They held their first organizational meeting on February 5th. Everyone who attended had ideas and enthusiasm for helping and volunteering. The first item of business was to organize free tasty meals for the American Legion Post 212 before their monthly meetings on the first Monday of every month. Volunteer cooks have already signed up to do this for every month up to and including the July meeting!

Calling all chefs, cooks, and volunteers of all ages – please step forward!! The first organizational meeting of the Union County Veterans Auxiliary will be on Monday February 5 from 5:00-6:00 in downstairs of the Veterans Building. This building is located behind the ball field and the Sheriff’s office at 140 Veterans St.

Dinners for First Responders, police, sheriff deputies, firefighters and EMTs have been held at the American Legion New Liberty Post Hall to thank them for all that they do for this county. The training that first responders go through and the commitment they must have are remarkable. Disaster relief is also a calling of New Liberty Post 212. Annually, they take clothing to homeless veterans. Initially, they traveled to the VA Mountain Home Hospital in Johnson City. But now they are taking clothing to the Ben Atchley VA Nursing Home in Knoxville.

Sure, I knew that the American Legion New Liberty Post 212 and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8682 shared a building up at the end of Veterans St. And I knew that it had something to do with military veterans. But I am not a veteran, nor do I come from a military family. So they really had nothing to do with me, did they? Well, I was wrong. As a community, we need to support these folks who train, work and fight to protect us. What they did was not easy and often left physical, mental and emotional scars. And we need to recognize their dedication to us and our community.