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Jim Evans

American Legion Post 108 marks 80th anniversary

June 28, 2017 By B.C. Manion

The group wants a home of its own

When American Legion Post 108 formed 80 years ago, it had its preliminary meeting in an old house on Denny Johnson’s old grove, on Lake Fern Road, according to club records.

About 10 veterans gathered for that initial 1937 meeting.

Next, they met in an old store building on U.S. 41, then known as Route 41, near the Superette.

After that, the group met for several years at the old Boy Scout Hall, with the Auxiliary members gathering in another room at that hall, according to an account published in a 1963 club newsletter.

From left are Joe Dilimone, Ray Mason, Lyle Watson and Hunter Arnstine, during the American Legion Post 108’s 80th birthday celebration. (Courtesy of American Legion Post 108)

Flash forward eight decades to the present: The group is still active, but is seeking a permanent home — and more members — to increase its vitality.

“We’re in a Catch-22. We need more members, and we need to meet in a place to get more members,” said Lyle Watson, the post’s adjutant. “We need fundraisers. We need a place to hold fundraisers. You can’t hold bingo if you don’t have a building to hold bingo in.”

The post currently meets monthly at Harvester United Methodist Church.

It would like to expand its activities, but it is difficult to fit into another organization’s schedule and it doesn’t have the financial means to purchase a permanent home.

Still, the post has a proud history.

When Post 108 was formed, it had 22 charter members. Over the years, membership has waxed and waned.

The post’s charter members must have been veterans of World War I, Watson observed.

Post chaplain Fred Wilsky has firsthand knowledge of how the post got started: “The guy who went out and recruited those members was my dad. He was a member of the Sulphur Springs Post.

It was during the Depression, he noted, “it was expensive for everybody to drive all of the way down there for a meeting, so they wanted to have a post out here,” said Wilsky, a member of the Army Air Corps who served in Guam.

N.B. Shewfelt, the post’s adjutant in 1963, offered a glimpse into the organization’s character in a February 1963 issue of the Lutz Legion News.

“Post No. 108 somehow keeps going right along doing their job of looking out for the interests of veterans, their widows and orphans,” Shewfelt wrote.

Over time, the name of the post was changed from Lutz Post 108 to Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Post 108. Post meetings now attract about 20 members.

Some members have been lost to death, said Post Commander Ray Mason. “We lost two veterans this year,” noted Mason, who served from 1962 to March 1968 in the Navy as a commissary store keeper.

One of those veterans who died was Granville Kinsman, a fighter pilot in World War II.

“He supported ground troops and escorted bombers to their destination,” Mason said.

“He was a paid-up lifetime member of Post 108. He was 95 years old,” Mason added.

The attendance at his funeral was gratifying, Mason said.

“Oh, my God, it was packed,” Mason said.

Post members say their experiences in the armed forces give them a particular kind of camaraderie with others who have shared the military life.

Currently, the post’s main activities are awarding school medals, providing an oratorical contest, supporting the Baldomero Lopez State Veterans Nursing Home in Land O’ Lakes and posting flags on veterans’ graves.

The organization presents two medals and two certificates at several local elementary and middle schools. The schools select the recipients. One medal goes to a boy and one goes to a girl. An honorable mention certificate also is awarded to a boy and to a girl.

“Sometimes we get invited,” Watson said. “The schools sometimes tell us what these kids have done to get selected. It is fantastic. It gives you a whole new perspective on public schools.”

At the high school level, there’s an oratorical contest, with cash awards.

The national winner gets an $18,000 scholarship, Mason said.

Presenting the awards has been a long tradition, Wilsky said.

“The post has been doing that since the beginning. My sister (Virginia) won it in 1939 or 1940,” he said. It was quite an honor, he said. It was “an affirmation of good character and studying hard and everything good about a person.”

The post needs more members so it can be of greater service, said Watson, who is retired Navy and who served from 1956 to 1974. The post could also participate in more programs that are available that are supported by the national organization.

Jim Evans said the post owes deep thanks to Vince Nasso, a former adjutant for the post.

“Without him, we probably wouldn’t have a post.

“When I joined here, I actually came from a Tampa post. There was probably no more than four or five active members. It was terrible,” said Evans, who was an Army intelligence analyst in France for three years, served in the Army Reserve for 15 years, then went back on active duty in the first Gulf War as a senior counterintelligence agent.

When Evans attended his first meeting, Nasso was the only one there. Nasso, who has since passed away, was determined to keep the post going, Evans said.

Belonging to the post is important, Evans said, because he wants to support the American Legion’s mission.

Plus, he enjoys reconnecting with people who served, he said.

“You live in communities that probably have veterans, but you may not even know it,” Evans said, adding he has a special affinity for veterans.

“I realize what most of them have been through,” he said.

Elaine Stoots, the post’s new historian, said she wants to help keep the organization alive because “we are losing some of the American ideals that founded this country.

“A lot of the rest of the world is looking to us for leadership and example. Who is going to provide it?” asked Stoots, who served from 1984 to 1990, stationed at Hahn Air Base Germany and at Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Want to help?
American Legion Post 108 is looking for a permanent home. Members believe that having a home of their own would help to increase membership, which, in turn, would bolster the group’s vitality. For more information, contact Lyle Watson at (813) 996-5917 or Ray Mason at (813) 994-1214.

Published June 28, 2017

Filed Under: Land O' Lakes News, Local News Tagged With: American Legion Post 108, Army Air Corps, Baldomero Lopez State Veterans Nursing Home, Boy Scout Hall, Denny Johnson, Elaine Stoots, Fred Wilsky, Granville Kinsman, Gulf War, Harvester United Methodist Church, Jim Evans, Lake Fern Road, Land O' Lakes, Lutz Legion News, Lyle Watson, N.B. Shewfelt, Ray Mason, Sulphur Springs Post, Superette, U.S. 41, Vince Nasso, World War II

A time-honored tradition to remember those who served

November 13, 2014 By B.C. Manion

The four men came to Lutz Cemetery on a Saturday morning, with a cool breeze stirring the trees, and the sun shining brightly in the clear blue sky.

They got to work quickly, each grabbing a supply of American flags and staking out a segment of the cemetery.

Bill Garrison, commander of American Legion Post 108, marches through Lutz Cemetery, surveying gravestones of military veterans to decorate with an American flag in honor of Veterans Day. (B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)
Bill Garrison, commander of American Legion Post 108, marches through Lutz Cemetery, surveying gravestones of military veterans to decorate with an American flag in honor of Veterans Day. (B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)

The men — Bill Garrison, Ray Mason, Richard Fernandez and Jim Evans — worked their way through the rows of gravestones, looking for those marking the final resting place of men and women who served to protect American freedom.

While Garrison, Mason and Fernandez surveyed areas closer to U.S. 41, Evans checked out the rear section of the cemetery. Each time they found a veteran’s gravestone, they solemnly planted a flag at the edge of the gravestone.

Marking the grave with a flag is an act of remembrance, and of respect. It’s something members of American Legion Post 108 do at Lutz Cemetery every Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Veterans Day.

The flags remain until a day after Veterans Day, when the men come back to recover them.

The flags honor veterans from World War I, World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam War. There’s even a grave of a Civil War soldier and another of a Spanish-American War soldier a soldier, Mason said.

The ritual of remembering men and women who served has been going on for close to 30 years, said Mason, the post’s adjutant.

Each time, they post about 200 flags. “We used to do more cemeteries, but membership dwindled,” said Garrison, the post commander.

As World War II veterans die, the post’s membership has declined. Now, the post — which draws its members from Lutz and Land O’ Lakes — has 97 members, Garrison said.

There are around 200 veterans buried in Lutz Cemetery, he said.

“There’s a lot of sacrifice here,” said Garrison, who served in the U.S. Air Force as a code breaker.

Fernandez, a past commander and the current financial officer for the post who served in the U.S. Coast Guard, said he takes part in the flag postings to honor those who have courageously served this country.

“Unfortunately they don’t get the honor and respect that they deserve,” Fernandez said.

Respect for veterans has improved, however, said Mason, who served in the U.S. Navy.

“Every once in awhile I wear my hat out, and I can’t believe the number of people who come up and say, ‘Thank you for your service,’” he said.

That’s a far different response than the one he received when he first finished military service.

“When I got out in ’65, everybody was against the war, all of that anti-Vietnam stuff,” said Mason, who did not serve in Vietnam.

He was surprised by the negative reception.

“I was taken back,” Mason said.

Evans, who served in the U.S. Army during Vietnam and during the first Gulf War, said posting the flags at the cemetery provides a sense of satisfaction.

“It gives you a nice feeling to have them remembered,” he said.

The men do the best they can to ensure they honor each veteran buried there. They look at the gravestones for any indication of military service.

“Sometimes it is just a little notation on there,” Evans said.

To make sure he didn’t miss any, Garrison kicks leaves off of graves, and scrapes off dirt. The other men made close inspections, too.

“I hate to miss one,” Evans said. “It really hurts me if I miss a veteran. We always make an extra sweep, and we always find some that we missed.”

Evans estimates he’s posted flags at the cemetery about 20 times. Sometimes, the work is easier than others. During the recent posting, conditions were pleasant.

But the heat can be brutal during the Memorial Day and Fourth of July postings, or sometimes it’s pouring rain.

“There have been times after a heavy rain where you almost sink,” Garrison said. “We slop through the mess.”

On the upside, though, “there’s no problem with putting them (the flags) in,” he added.

After they post the flags and complete their sweep, the men conclude by playing “Taps,” — a final tribute for those who served.

Published November 12, 2014

See this story in print: Click Here

Filed Under: Local News, Lutz News Tagged With: American Legion Post 108, Bill Garrison, Civil War, Fourth of July, Gulf War, Jim Evans, Korean War, Land O' Lakes, Lutz, Lutz Cemetery, Memorial Day, Ray Mason, Richard Fernandez, Spanish-American War, U.S. 41, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, Veterans Day, Vietnam War, World War I, World War II

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