Louisiana Veterans Posts

About Veterans Organizations in Louisiana

A deep look at the history, oldest posts, membership process, and notable veterans connected to Louisiana.

History of Veterans Organizations in Louisiana

Louisiana's military lineage is older than the state itself. French colonial militia, Spanish garrisons at Baton Rouge and New Orleans, and the famous Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815 all wove military service into the cultural fabric of the lower Mississippi Valley a full century before the American Legion was chartered. Andrew Jackson's victory at Chalmette, fought with a polyglot army of regulars, Tennessee militia, free men of color, Choctaw warriors, Baratarian privateers, and New Orleans civilians, is still commemorated each January, and Legion posts up and down the Mississippi River and Bayou Lafourche are descendants in spirit of those defenders. When the Legion came into being in 1919, Louisiana veterans of the AEF immediately set to work organizing a Department of Louisiana.

Several Louisiana regiments, particularly the 39th Infantry Division and units that fed into the Rainbow Division, returned home and provided the founding membership for the state's first posts. New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Lake Charles, Alexandria, Lafayette, and Monroe were the early urban anchors, while smaller posts went up in the sugar parishes downriver, the cotton parishes of north Louisiana, and the rice and crawfish country of Acadiana. Louisiana's Cajun and Creole communities have a deep tradition of military service, and the bilingual character of older Legion posts in places like Abbeville, Eunice, Opelousas, and Houma persisted well into the postwar era. Camp Polk (later Fort Polk and now Fort Johnson) opened in 1941 and trained tens of thousands of WWII soldiers including the famous Louisiana Maneuvers.

After 1945, Louisiana's WWII veterans flooded into the Legion. Korean War, Vietnam, and Persian Gulf veterans followed in turn. Louisiana also has a significant Coast Guard heritage thanks to its coastal geography, with Coast Guard veterans well represented in posts in New Orleans, Morgan City, Cameron, and Grand Isle. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 dealt a punishing blow to many Legion posts, particularly in St.

Bernard and Plaquemines parishes and in the Lower Ninth Ward, but most were rebuilt or consolidated, and the storm has become part of post lore on the Gulf Coast.

Oldest and Most Historic Posts in Louisiana

Louisiana's first American Legion post was chartered in New Orleans in 1919 and remains a cornerstone of the department. Several New Orleans posts trace their origins to that founding period, including posts that served the Garden District, Mid-City, and the Irish Channel as those neighborhoods absorbed returning doughboys. Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Lake Charles, and Alexandria all chartered posts in the original 1919 to 1920 wave. The post in Chalmette, sitting on the literal site of the 1815 battle, is one of the most historically resonant in the country, and it has long held a privileged place in Louisiana Department traditions.

New Orleans Post 307, sometimes called the Major Robert F. Hardy Post, has been a notable landmark; the Department also recognizes a number of other early posts in the Crescent City. Several Acadiana posts in Lafayette, Crowley, New Iberia, and Abbeville chartered in the early 1920s and built post homes in the architectural style of the Acadian region, with raised cottages and broad galleries. Many of those original buildings remain in service today.

The post in Mansfield, in DeSoto Parish, sits in a Civil War battlefield community where veteran organizing has been continuous in some form since the 1870s. Louisiana's department headquarters has worked diligently to preserve charter numbers from the original founding period, and where consolidation has been necessary, the older number is generally retained as the surviving post's identifier.

VFW Posts in Louisiana: A Closer Look

The Veterans of Foreign Wars established a strong Louisiana presence in the years following the Spanish-American War, with veterans of the Philippine campaigns providing the original organizing nucleus. The Department of Louisiana VFW grew rapidly after WWI as New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Shreveport veterans of overseas service organized their own posts. WWII brought an enormous wave of new VFW members and posts, particularly along the Gulf Coast and in the parishes around what is now Fort Johnson. Today the Department of Louisiana VFW operates more than 100 posts across the state, with particular strength in the New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Shreveport, and Lake Charles markets.

Louisiana VFW posts are well known for their crawfish boils, jambalaya cookoffs, and bingo nights, and several of the state's larger posts host major fundraising events that draw participants from across the Gulf South. The department has also been a leader in disaster-response volunteering, with VFW posts serving as relief hubs during and after multiple hurricanes.

AMVETS, DAV, and Other Veterans Organizations in Louisiana

AMVETS came to Louisiana in the late 1940s and quickly chartered posts in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Shreveport. Today the Department of Louisiana AMVETS maintains a presence across the major metros and in several smaller communities, and its service-officer corps assists veterans with VA claims through the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System (which now operates from a new New Orleans VA facility built after Katrina) and the Overton Brooks VA Medical Center in Shreveport. Disabled American Veterans (DAV) is well established statewide and operates a transportation network that is essential in a state where many rural veterans face long drives to VA facilities. The Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs maintains state veterans homes in Bossier City, Monroe, Jackson, Reserve, and Jennings, and the various veteran service organizations cooperate closely with those facilities.

The Wounded War Heroes program and Louisiana-specific veteran charities supplement the national service organizations, and joint events involving Legion, VFW, AMVETS, and DAV personnel are common in the smaller parishes.

Louisiana Veterans Posts by the Numbers

The Department of Louisiana American Legion charters roughly 180 to 210 posts across the state's 64 parishes, with total membership in the range of 22,000 to 28,000. The Auxiliary contributes another 8,000 to 10,000 members, and the Sons of the American Legion squadrons add several thousand more. Louisiana VFW figures hover around 100 to 120 active posts and roughly 12,000 to 15,000 members. AMVETS in Louisiana is smaller but stable.

Louisiana's veteran population is estimated by the VA at approximately 250,000 to 280,000. The state has been steadily losing WWII and Korean War veterans for years, but the Iraq and Afghanistan generation has been replenishing membership, particularly through Legion Riders chapters and through Fort Johnson-affiliated posts in Vernon, Beauregard, and Rapides parishes.

How to Join a Veterans Post in Louisiana

Joining an American Legion post in Louisiana requires honorable service in the U.S. Armed Forces during any period recognized under the LEGION Act of 2019. The Department of Louisiana processes applications either through individual posts or through department headquarters in Pineville, where the state adjutant's office manages charters, membership records, and statewide programs. Annual dues range from approximately thirty to fifty-five dollars at the post level, with a portion forwarded to department and national.

Many Louisiana posts offer paid-up-for-life memberships, a popular option among older veterans. The Auxiliary welcomes female relatives of eligible veterans, and the Sons of the American Legion welcomes male descendants of eligible veterans. The Legion Riders program is particularly active in Louisiana, where the long, flat highways and mild winter riding conditions support year-round chapter events. The relationship between Fort Johnson and surrounding posts in Leesville, DeRidder, and Alexandria provides a steady pipeline of new members, and Coast Guard veterans from the New Orleans, Morgan City, and Cameron sectors form distinctive sub-communities within their local posts.

Notable Louisiana Veterans in History

Louisiana has produced a remarkable roster of military leaders and notable veterans. General Russel L. Honoré, a Pointe Coupee Parish native and Tuskegee graduate, became a household name when he led Joint Task Force Katrina in 2005. General Claire Lee Chennault of Waterproof, Louisiana commanded the Flying Tigers in China during WWII and became one of the most celebrated airmen of his generation.

Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, victor of the Battle of Midway, was born in Baltimore but had Louisiana family roots. WWII Marine and longtime Louisiana governor Jimmie Davis served before his political career. WWI hero Sam Dreben, the Fighting Jew of the Mexican border, lived part of his life in Louisiana.

Medal of Honor recipients from Louisiana span every modern conflict and include men from rural parishes and major cities alike. Louisiana also produced General John Archer Lejeune, a Pointe Coupee native who became the 13th Commandant of the Marine Corps and gave his name to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. The Louisiana State Veterans Memorial Cemetery system and the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, founded in significant part through the efforts of historian and veteran Stephen Ambrose, both reflect Louisiana's outsized commitment to honoring military service.

Frequently Asked Questions: Louisiana Veterans Posts

Sources & Further Reading

• https://www.legion.org/
• https://www.lalegion.org/
• https://www.vfw.org/
• https://www.amvets.org/
• https://www.dav.org/
• https://www.va.gov/vetdata/
• https://home.army.mil/johnson/
• https://www.vetaffairs.la.gov/
• https://www.nationalww2museum.org/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_New_Orleans