(The Republican/MassLive) – Commander Wayne Keaton stood tall in a crisp white uniform in front of the M-60 tank outside American Legion Post 185 in Agawam. The post is struggling, he said, both to find new members and keep its building in shape to welcome the latest generation of veterans.
“We have no younger members signing up,” Keaton said. “I’m 63 and one of the youngest ones here.”
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Velis noted that the Legion impacted the direction of his own life after serving in Afghanistan in 2018.
“I was a lost veteran. I was not sure what I was doing in life,” he said. “This was before (when) I was not running for office. I was just John the veteran. The commander at the time came up to me and said, ‘Welcome home.’”
That’s what has him focused now on the future of Legions and VFWs across the 2nd Hampden & Hampshire District. “We can’t sit by idle as these buildings and their membership goes,” Velis said.