Post hoping gaming can serve as ‘stepping stone’ for younger veterans in the Legion

Prior to becoming a member of The American Legion, Army National Guard veteran Joseph Desroches saw a post on Facebook in which Wilson-Thompson American Legion Post 185 in Feeding Hills, Mass., announced it was setting up a gaming area within the post and was looking for game donations.

Desroches, 33, wanted to assist the post’s effort, so he reached out and shared that he had some contacts within the gaming community – primarily the nonprofit Stack Up, which was founded to bring veterans and civilian supporters together through a shared love of video gaming through a variety of programs.

Desroches, who shortly thereafter joined Post 185, reached out to Stack Up, which has had multiple collaborations with both the Legion’s National Headquarters and local posts.

“I got a response back within a couple days, saying ‘We’d love to help out,’” Desroches said. “They asked if there was any specific equipment we were looking for. I told them anything would be a benefit and we’d be grateful for.

“They ended up sending us the latest Xbox system and a whole handful of games. Some accessories as well. They were very quick to jump in on helping out.”

The American Legion has provided Operation Comfort Warrior grants to Stack Up in the past to cover such expenses as updating Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s gaming area and providing video games and other accessories for Fort Irwin’s Desert Warrior Week. Stack Up also gifted four gaming PCs to American Legion Post 46 in Culver City, Calif., which was planning on using them to start an esports league.

On its website, Stack Up shared, “We've helped a few American Legion Posts before by getting them Supply Crates. American Legion Posts often lack gaming areas and equipment and with more and more Veterans gaming, they need to update their systems. We're happy to help provide these consoles as the American Legion has benefitted Stack Up through its Operation Comfort Warriors before to help us get more Supply Crates into the hands of Veterans.”

“I think it’s huge,” Desroches said of the Legion’s relationship with Stack Up. “It definitely offers a place for people to go and relax, unwind, decompress and hang out with others. We have a little gaming corner (at Post 185) off to the side with couches. I figure it’s going to make a big impact, especially with drawing some of the younger crowd in. Having something like that is kind of a stepping stone, bridging the gap of making some of the younger crowd not sure how to get involved. I think that’s going to be a big help.”

Desroches said he’s been gaming “since I was little” and said when he was in detainee operations at Guantanamo Bay, it served as a coping mechanism for he and others.

“Gaming gives you that opportunity to connect or reconnect with new people from all over the world,” he said. “I think it’s just another tool in the toolbox kind of thing. You don’t have to travel to do it. You can sit down, jump on a game, message some people.

“Online gaming is ease of access to talk to like-minded people, unwind, game and chat it up. And get things off your chest if you need to.”

That includes what can be difficult topics. “Maybe it’s not something you can easily talk to your family about,” Desroches said. “My post commander, Drew Pajack, he’s trying to do a lot of this stuff. He wants to really expand this, and hopefully we can work with other posts and kind of show them, ‘Hey, this is what we’ve been doing’ and see how we can help as well.

“It’s not just to benefit our post. It’s really to set a standard or a waypoint for other people to jump on board. That’s the long-term goal.”