American Legion, GILBERT-CATRON POST No. 5 – 1924

Saltville, Virginia

[This article is taken from “History of the American Legion Department of Virginia”.

Fifteen charter members applied for charter on December 31, 1923 and received temporary charter January 6, 1924. Stand of colors were received by this Post January 15, 1924.

The following officers were elected for the year 1924:

Commander, Mr. E. A. Hults; first vice-commander, Mr. W. H. Richardson; second vice- commander, Mr. C. I. Neighbours; adjutant, Mr. L. N. Watson; finance officer, Mr. R. V. Rogers; service officer, Dr. E. A. Holmes; sergeant-at-arms, Mr. R. W. Farris; chaplain, Rev. E. C. Burnz.

In January the Post visited the Davis Clinic at Marion, Va., and were very much impressed with the cleanliness and the order in which the clinic was being conducted, we were very cordially received and conducted through the clinic by Superintendent Doctor Henderson.

We have put on several local talent shows and have met with great success with them, also the showing of the war picture Powder River at Victory Theatre recently.

We have now forty-one members and one of one hundred and twenty-five ex-service men to draw from, we intend to go to one hundred before December 31, 1924.

At the present time we are planning giving the children in our community and the surrounding vicinity a free motion picture show at our Victor Theatre once a month. At these shows we plan to have an Uncle Remus story-teller, also children educational talks.

We have a baseball team organized, also a bowling team that we expect to furnish entertainment to all our nearby posts in the near future, and would like to form a bowling league in Southwest Virginia for the coming winter months.

We are now filing application for all ex-service men for adjusted compensation.