In the heart of Silver City, New Mexico sits the American Legion Allingham-Golding Post, where veterans of all ages and backgrounds come to find community in the small mountain town.
Bill Harrison served in World War 2 for the U.S. Navy beginning when he was 19 years old. Harrison, now 102, said he began service without training, and was thrust into his military career as a yeoman, eventually serving under Admiral Richard E. Byrd.
“I was 19 years old and knew nothing. I had never seen a sailor,” he said. “I learned that discipline in your life is important. Doing what you’re supposed to do, and asked to do, it’s important to set a goal and accomplish it. I was a little Okie farm boy that didn’t know much. And when I got out, I still don’t know too much. But when I got out, I was a man.”
After being honorably discharged in November of 1945, Harrison went to law school, and after graduating, began a life of public service, which led him to become the City Manager in Silver City in 1969.
When asked how he would like Americans to observe Veterans Day this year, this was his response:
“With reverence. With respect to those who’ve served. Respect to the families who lost people in combat. Who have cared for, or nurtured, those people that have come back that are wounded or injured or, not quite like they were when they went. If we just get together and support one another, that’s what I hope can happen.”
For many, the American Legion post is a place to find community, to find veterans who can relate and empathize with each other. Rodger “Stretch” Wright began serving in the Marines in 1967, just weeks out of high school, and found himself in the thick of the Vietnam War when he was just a teenager.
“I turned 19 on the way to Vietnam. Got to Vietnam in January of ‘68, just in time for what they call the Tet Offensive, which was one of the worst times to be in Vietnam. I was only there five months,” he said. “I was up in the mountains of Khe Sahn, I got shot twice, got two Purple Hearts and the million-dollar wound we called it. So I didn’t have to go back.”
Wright said it was difficult returning home during such an unpopular war. He struggled for years with his experiences, and after returning to civilian life, didn’t even tell his coworkers that he served in the military.
“Being a Vietnam veteran, we didn’t talk about it. It wasn’t a very popular thing. Back then there was no such thing as PTSD at the time. We thought we were just crazy, you know? And everybody else thought we were crazy,” he said. “[It] really helps to be a member of the Legion and the Marine Corps League because I get to talk to people [who went through] the same thing I had went through.”
And that is what the American Legion excels at according to Army veteran Maryanne Coppinger. Like Wright, she served during the Vietnam war, and explained that even in a time of political division, American Legionnaires are brought together by the determination to make the U.S. a better place for all citizens.
“The country didn’t get built in a day, and will crumble if [we’re] not actively involved. Everybody brings something to make this big community that helps to promote patriotism and the care of veterans,” Coppinger said. “We can all get along. Sometimes it’s really tough. When I see the names and the faces of other veterans in this building, it reminds me that there’s so much that so many people have done, and we all have to work together to continue that.”
As for Bill Harrison, the centenarian said he believes that better days are still ahead for the U.S., despite current division across political lines.
“Be a giver. Do your part. If a vacancy comes up in a board, don’t wait to be asked – offer to serve. That’s how we are a good democracy, a republic. You know, we’ve been in a lot worse places than we are now. This is a great country, and these people that are here today are the ones that make it great.”
In the mountains of Southwest New Mexico, these veterans offer more than stories of war; they provide lessons in resilience, camaraderie, and the enduring strength of service to one’s community.
