Maine Veterans Posts

About Veterans Organizations in Maine

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

History of Veterans Organizations in Maine

Maine's military identity is inseparable from its coastline. From the eighteenth century forward, the state has built ships, manned ships, and sent sons and daughters to sea in the service of the country, and that maritime tradition runs straight through every generation of Maine veterans. The First and Twentieth Maine of Civil War fame, the latter under Joshua Chamberlain at Little Round Top, established a regimental reputation that still echoes in Pine Tree State pride. By the time the American Legion was chartered nationally in 1919, Maine veterans of the AEF were ready to organize, and the Department of Maine took shape rapidly.

Portland, Bangor, Lewiston, Augusta, Auburn, Biddeford, and Waterville formed the early urban backbone, and posts spread quickly into the Aroostook County potato country, the western mountains, and the small fishing villages of Hancock and Washington counties. Bath Iron Works on the Kennebec River, founded in 1884 and central to U.S. Navy shipbuilding through both world wars and to this day, has produced multiple generations of Navy veterans whose post-service homes are scattered across Sagadahoc and Cumberland counties. The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, technically located in Kittery, Maine, despite its name, has served as a submarine-construction and overhaul facility for over two centuries; submarine veterans of the Cold War in particular form a distinctive subcommunity within Maine Legion posts.

The Brunswick Naval Air Station, which closed in 2011 after decades of P-3 Orion patrols of the North Atlantic, contributed thousands of Navy veterans who settled in midcoast Maine. Loring Air Force Base in Limestone, a major Strategic Air Command bomber base from 1947 to 1994, did the same for Aroostook County. WWII saw Maine produce destroyers, mine sweepers, and Liberty ships at a furious pace, and the postwar generation of veterans poured into Legion posts. Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, and the post-9/11 conflicts each added their layer to the membership rolls.

Maine posts are famous for their suppers, particularly the bean suppers and lobster bakes that have funded post operations and youth programs for generations.

Oldest and Most Historic Posts in Maine

Harold T. Andrews Post 17 of Portland is one of Maine's most prominent posts and traces its lineage to the original 1919 wave. Bangor's post, named for a fallen WWI officer, is another of the founding-era charters. Lewiston, Auburn, Augusta, Biddeford, and Waterville all chartered posts in 1919 and 1920, and many of those posts still occupy historic post homes.

The Department of Maine maintains records of dozens of small-town posts that chartered in the original period, particularly along the Kennebec and Penobscot river valleys and in the coastal communities from Kittery to Eastport. Bath Post is one of the more historically distinctive in the state because of its century-long entanglement with the shipbuilding industry; Iron Works veterans and BIW employees have long crossed paths in its membership rolls. Houlton, in the heart of Aroostook County, organized one of the earliest northern Maine posts. Several of Maine's oldest post homes are former Civil War-era veterans' halls inherited from the Grand Army of the Republic, and the GAR-to-Legion lineage is more visible in Maine than in many other states.

The Department of Maine has worked to preserve the original charter numbers of its founding posts even when consolidations have been necessary, and several posts still meet in buildings constructed before 1930.

VFW Posts in Maine: A Closer Look

The Veterans of Foreign Wars in Maine grew out of the small but dedicated population of Spanish-American War and Philippine veterans, joined after WWI by the much larger contingent of doughboys returning from France. The Department of Maine VFW expanded steadily through the interwar years and exploded in size after WWII, when overseas service became the norm. Today the department operates a strong network of posts across the state, with particular concentrations in the Portland, Bangor, Lewiston-Auburn, and Augusta markets, as well as in the former Loring AFB and Brunswick NAS communities. Maine VFW posts are well known for their fish chowders, baked-bean suppers, and turkey shoots, and the department has been a consistent contributor to scholarship and welfare programs at the national level.

The cooperation between Maine VFW posts and the state's Legion posts is generally close, with shared color guards and shared honor-guard duties at military funerals being the norm in smaller communities.

AMVETS, DAV, and Other Veterans Organizations in Maine

AMVETS established its Maine department after WWII and has maintained a smaller but steady presence in the state for decades. The Department of Maine AMVETS works with Togus VA Medical Center, the oldest VA facility in the country (established in 1866 to care for Civil War veterans), and the various community-based outpatient clinics across the state. Disabled American Veterans (DAV) is well organized in Maine and operates a transportation network that is essential in a state where rural veterans often face long drives to specialty care. The Maine Bureau of Veterans Services maintains state veterans homes in Augusta, Bangor, Caribou, Machias, Scarborough, and South Paris, and DAV transportation often connects veterans to those facilities.

The cooperation among Legion, VFW, AMVETS, and DAV is unusually close in Maine, partly because the state's small population and rural geography make joint operations practical and necessary.

Maine Veterans Posts by the Numbers

The Department of Maine American Legion charters roughly 160 to 180 posts across all 16 counties, with total membership in the range of 14,000 to 18,000. The Auxiliary contributes another 5,000 to 7,000 members, and the Sons of the American Legion add several thousand more. Maine VFW figures are in the neighborhood of 75 to 90 active posts and approximately 8,000 to 10,000 members. Maine's veteran population is estimated by the VA at approximately 110,000 to 125,000, which is one of the highest per capita rates in the country, reflecting both the state's traditional service ethic and the post-WWII pattern of veterans retiring to the Maine coast and lake country.

Aroostook, Penobscot, and York counties have particularly high veteran populations.

How to Join a Veterans Post in Maine

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

Many posts offer paid-up-for-life memberships, especially attractive to retired Navy and submarine veterans who plan to remain in the state long-term. The Auxiliary welcomes spouses, mothers, daughters, sisters, granddaughters, and great-granddaughters of eligible veterans, and the Sons of the American Legion is active across the state. The Legion Riders program is well established in Maine despite the short riding season, and chapters from Kittery to Houlton participate in the annual Legacy Run and in regional charity rides. Maine's strong submariner subculture, anchored by the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard veterans, is especially visible in posts in Kittery, York, Eliot, and the surrounding southern Maine communities.

Notable Maine Veterans in History

Maine has produced an extraordinary number of distinguished service members. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, the 20th Maine commander at Gettysburg, Bowdoin College professor, governor, and Medal of Honor recipient, remains the most beloved figure in Maine military history. Admiral Robert Peary, the Arctic explorer, was a Civil Engineer Corps officer with deep Maine ties. General Henry Knox, Washington's chief of artillery and the first Secretary of War, retired to Thomaston, Maine and is buried there.

Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Skowhegan, while not a veteran herself, was the first woman elected to both houses of Congress and a tireless advocate for veterans and the armed services. Senator George Mitchell served briefly in Army counterintelligence. WWII Marine and Maine native Daniel J. Daly, while better known as a New Yorker by service, had New England roots that resonate in Maine.

Medal of Honor recipients from Maine span every conflict from the Civil War through Vietnam. The state's Pine Tree State Veterans Cemetery in Augusta and the Maine Veterans Memorial in Bangor honor those who served, and the state's commitment to its WWII veterans, including the elaborate D-Day commemorations in Bangor each June, is among the most impressive in the country.

Frequently Asked Questions: Maine Veterans Posts

Sources & Further Reading

• https://www.legion.org/
• https://mainelegion.org/
• https://www.vfw.org/
• https://www.amvets.org/
• https://www.dav.org/
• https://www.va.gov/vetdata/
• https://www.va.gov/togus-health-care/
• https://www.maine.gov/veterans/
• https://www.gdbiw.com/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20th_Maine_Infantry_Regiment