Service project helps Legion Family give back to community

Kim Kay McCarty Martin took a moment from pulling weeds at the War Memorial Center to reflect on the community service project taking place Friday morning in conjunction with The American Legion National Convention in Milwaukee.

“It feels great to give back. I especially do enjoy it,” said McCarty Martin, the adjutant of Post 341 in Great Falls, Mont.

This is the fourth convention community service project that McCarty Martin and others from Montana have participated in.

“Hopefully (the community) receives it that this is a way for veterans to give back, not only to other veterans but also to the community,” she said. “I know the community back in Montana appreciates it when The American Legion does highway cleanup and things like that.”

A group of Legion Family members, including PNC’s Denise Rohan and James W. “Bill” Oxford, headed to the War Memorial Center along Lake Michigan on Friday morning to help clean up landscaping, touch up paint on six granite barriers in front of the center depicting the service branches and a quote from Gen. Douglas MacArthur, polish black marble surfaces throughout the center, and clean up debris from the nearby Vietnam War Memorial.

The community service projects were first held in conjunction with the 2013 national convention in Houston.

“We need to increase and improve the visibility of The American Legion, and this is just one of the ways that we can do that,” Oxford said. “It’s making sure the public and society understands who The American Legion is, and what we do for the country.”

Dan Buttery, president and CEO of the War Memorial Center, said he was “blown away” when the center was suggested as the recipient of this year’s service project, in conjunction with the 103rd National Convention.

“Because it’s a 1957 building, I have a very small staff, we try to do what we can to stay in front of it, but there’s always a honey-do list,” Buttery said. “… Having all these beautiful hearts and minds and servicemen and women here, Legionnaires, it’s perfect because I know they get it. It’s just amazing. … The help is extraordinary.”

The War Memorial Center was dedicated on Veterans Day, 1957, and was designed by renowned architect Eero Saarinen, whose work also included the St. Louis Gateway Arch, New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport and Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C.

Finding a way to match that architecture was a welcome challenge for the War Memorial Center staff with the development of their newest exhibit, a gallery honoring Wisconsin’s 64 Medal of Honor recipients.

The War Memorial Center will also host American Legion Family Day as part of the weekend’s Oktoberfest activities. Buttery sees the event as a win-win for both the center and the Legion.

“It’s a co-fundraiser between The American Legion and us. So it’s giving back to the veteran community in a financial way too,” he said.