South Dakota Veterans Posts

About Veterans Organizations in South Dakota

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

History of Veterans Organizations in South Dakota

The American Legion arrived in South Dakota in 1919, only thirty years after the state had achieved statehood, and the Department of South Dakota was chartered the same year. The state's first Legion convention met in Sioux Falls, with delegates traveling by train and automobile from across a vast prairie geography. Approximately 32,000 South Dakotans served in uniform during the First World War, and many returned home to organize Legion posts in towns large and small. South Dakota's Legion movement carried a distinctive frontier character.

Many posts were chartered in tiny prairie communities, often in the same buildings that served as town halls, opera houses, or fraternal lodges. The state's veteran population from the start included substantial numbers of Native American veterans, particularly from the Sioux nations whose reservations cover large parts of the state. The Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota peoples have a tradition of military service that long predates the federal recognition of Native American citizenship in 1924, and South Dakota's Legion posts have always included tribal members alongside settler-descended veterans. The interwar years saw steady Legion growth in South Dakota, although the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl drought hit the state's small farming communities hard, and many posts struggled to maintain membership through the 1930s.

The Second World War transformed South Dakota's veteran community. Ellsworth Air Force Base near Rapid City, originally established as Rapid City Army Air Base in 1942, became a major B-17 and later B-29 training facility. The Black Hills Ordnance Depot at Igloo, Fort Meade near Sturgis, and various other military installations brought tens of thousands of soldiers and airmen through the state. After the war many of those servicemembers returned to settle in South Dakota, joining and chartering Legion posts.

The Cold War saw Ellsworth become a strategic bomber and missile base, and the state's Minuteman missile fields were active until the 1990s. The Korean War, Vietnam, and the post-9/11 wars each added their own classes of South Dakota Legionnaires. Today the Department of South Dakota American Legion is headquartered in Watertown and oversees a network of posts spread across an enormous geographic area.

Oldest and Most Historic Posts in South Dakota

American Legion Post 15 in Sioux Falls, sometimes called the William J. Looby Post, traces its charter to 1919 and is one of the largest urban posts in the state. Post 22 in Rapid City, also chartered in 1919, has historically had close ties to Ellsworth Air Force Base and to the Black Hills veteran community. Post 1 in Pierre, the capital city post, has long served as a symbolic center for state Legion gatherings.

American Legion Post 8 in Aberdeen, Post 14 in Mitchell, and Post 17 in Watertown all originated in the founding wave of charters and remain active. Post 22 in Lead and Post 31 in Deadwood, in the Black Hills mining country, have particularly distinctive heritage tied to the gold rush economies of the late 19th century. American Legion Post 308 in Wagner, on the Yankton Sioux reservation, and posts in towns like Eagle Butte, McLaughlin, and Mission have substantial Native American membership and host culturally significant Memorial Day and Veterans Day ceremonies. Post 24 in Vermillion, near the University of South Dakota, has long had connections to the state's professional and academic communities.

Many South Dakota posts share buildings with community centers or VFW halls, reflecting the practical realities of small-town veteran organizing. The state's longest-operating posts have weathered economic downturns, population shifts from rural to urban areas, and generational transitions, and several have maintained continuous charters for over a century.

VFW Posts in South Dakota: A Closer Look

The Veterans of Foreign Wars Department of South Dakota organized in the 1920s, with founding posts in Sioux Falls, Rapid City, Aberdeen, and Pierre. The state's foreign service combat eligibility population was small in absolute numbers but grew substantially with each successive war. After World War II, South Dakota's VFW department added dozens of new posts, with concentrations near Ellsworth AFB, Fort Meade, and the major population centers. Notable South Dakota VFW posts include Post 628 in Sioux Falls, Post 1273 in Rapid City, and Post 791 in Aberdeen.

The Department of South Dakota VFW maintains a state office that coordinates Buddy Poppy distribution, Voice of Democracy and Patriot's Pen scholarship programs, and military assistance. South Dakota VFW members have been particularly active in advocating for rural veteran healthcare access, including expansion of telehealth services and mobile VA clinics, given the state's vast distances and small populations.

AMVETS, DAV, and Other Veterans Organizations in South Dakota

AMVETS in South Dakota organized in the late 1940s as World War II veterans pushed for postwar benefits. The state has a smaller AMVETS footprint than the Legion or VFW, but several active posts operate in Sioux Falls, Rapid City, and other communities. The Disabled American Veterans organization maintains a South Dakota department headquartered in Sioux Falls, with chapters across the state operating transportation networks that bring disabled veterans to the Sioux Falls VA Medical Center, the Hot Springs VA Medical Center, and the Fort Meade VA Medical Center. Given South Dakota's enormous geography, with veterans sometimes living more than 200 miles from the nearest VA hospital, the DAV transportation program is essential.

Service officers across the state are particularly experienced with claims related to Cold War radiation exposure, given the state's missile field and bomber base history, and with claims related to Native American veteran services.

South Dakota Veterans Posts by the Numbers

South Dakota is home to approximately 65,000 to 72,000 veterans, a substantial proportion of the state's population of roughly 920,000 residents. The state hosts Ellsworth Air Force Base near Rapid City, home to the 28th Bomb Wing and the B-1B Lancer fleet. The South Dakota Army and Air National Guard maintain training facilities at Camp Rapid in Rapid City and at the Joe Foss Field complex in Sioux Falls. The American Legion Department of South Dakota maintains approximately 250 to 280 chartered posts, an unusually dense per capita network reflecting the state's tradition of rural civic organization.

Active membership runs in the range of 17,000 to 22,000. The VFW Department of South Dakota operates approximately 90 posts. AMVETS has a smaller footprint of about 20 posts. South Dakota's Native American veteran population is among the most significant in the country, with several reservations supporting their own veteran traditions and ceremonies.

How to Join a Veterans Post in South Dakota

Joining the American Legion in South Dakota follows national eligibility rules. A veteran with at least one day of honorable federal active duty since December 7, 1941 qualifies, as do current honorably-serving members. National Guard and Reserve members federally activated qualify. The South Dakota Army and Air National Guard have substantial deployment history including activations to Iraq, Afghanistan, the Sinai, Kosovo, and various stateside duty.

Annual dues at South Dakota posts typically run from $30 to $50, with paid-up-for-life options available. The Sons of The American Legion is active in South Dakota, with squadrons across the state. The American Legion Auxiliary maintains units in most communities and sponsors Girls State each summer at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. Several South Dakota posts have notable Legion Riders chapters, and the Sturgis area in particular has a deeply integrated Legion Riders community given the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

Veterans interested in joining can find a post through legionfinder.com or by contacting the Department of South Dakota office in Watertown.

Notable South Dakota Veterans in History

South Dakota has produced notable military figures. Joe Foss, born in Sioux Falls, was a Marine Corps fighter pilot and Medal of Honor recipient who shot down 26 Japanese aircraft during World War II, later served as Governor of South Dakota, and was the first commissioner of the American Football League. The Sioux Falls airport, Joe Foss Field, is named in his honor. Senator George McGovern, born in Avon, South Dakota, flew 35 combat missions as a B-24 pilot in the European theater during World War II and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

He later became a U.S. Senator and the Democratic presidential nominee in 1972. Pfc. Charles E.

Mower, a Native American soldier, received the Medal of Honor posthumously for his actions in the Philippines in 1944. Senator Tim Johnson, a longtime advocate for veteran issues, served South Dakota in the U.S. Senate. Numerous Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota veterans from the Pine Ridge, Rosebud, Cheyenne River, Standing Rock, and other reservations have served with distinction across all American wars from the Civil War to the post-9/11 era.

The Black Hills National Cemetery near Sturgis is one of the most striking veteran burial sites in the country, set against the backdrop of the Black Hills, and is the resting place of thousands of South Dakota veterans.

Frequently Asked Questions: South Dakota Veterans Posts

Sources & Further Reading

• https://sdlegion.org/
• https://www.legion.org/
• https://www.vfw.org/
• https://www.amvets.org/
• https://www.dav.org/
• https://www.va.gov/vetdata/
• https://vetaffairs.sd.gov/
• https://www.ellsworth.af.mil/
• https://www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/blackhills.asp