CA Veterans Fight To Reopen Posts: 'Not Just Halls With Bars'

LOS ANGELES, CA — American Legion Posts used to be a place where veterans of all ages could gather and share stories of service. But as the coronavirus pandemic forced hundreds of veterans halls across the state to close, many aging veterans who did not adapt well to online socializing were severed from their communities.

Last week, veterans across the state collaborated to send Gov. Gavin Newsom a letter, urging him to reopen these historic posts and halls after months of closure. Authors of the letter allege that these veterans' posts have been falsely classified as "bars" under reopening guidelines, cutting veterans off from necessary support and health resources.

And while the classification of these posts as bars wasn't completely inaccurate, leaders of such halls maintain that these places can offer more than a place to grab a drink.

"I think there is absolutely a way to transform that space with the right resources, but just purely classifying an American Legion as a bar is incorrect," Jennifer Campbell, commander of the Hollywood American Legion Post 43, told Patch. "While they have a bar and it may be a social gathering point, it's not the backbone of what it is that we do for our members and for the community. "

Campbell is the second woman to be elected commander of the Hollywood American Legion Post 43, which open its doors at its current location in 1929 but was first established in 1919.

Some 275 posts have closed amid a wave of COVID-19 restrictions imposed earlier this year. Five posts have been permanently shuttered, and three others are pending closure, according to John G. Lowe, State Commander for the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Many of these California halls are ripe with history, with some over 100 years old. Post leaders like Campbell have been working to preserve their historical value and community engagement during the pandemic.

"A lot of people are scrambling, and I know a lot of posts have looked at closing their doors," Campbell said. "I think that the older population desperately feels it...I think a lot of time the highlight of their month was getting out to the American Legions for meetings."

Campbell says the Hollywood post has attempted to transition their members — all 1,300 of them — to become an online community. They have scraped together Zoom happy hours, and launched a state of the art drive-in theater.

"It's challenging...we obviously have a large demographic of aging veterans that are the most vulnerable to this virus and so we are very cognizant of that," Campbell said. "But there's also a lot of people that rely on these resources that the American Legion provides."

The Hollywood Legion Theater, which is the first and only drive-in theater in Hollywood, has done exceptionally well, she said, with attendance soaring and even selling out some shows. Celebrities Tyra Banks and Zoey Deschanel have also attended showings at the Hollywood drive-in.

"We ourselves rely on the income of our business model, which relies on our theatre and our events," Campbell said. "So we have had to quickly scramble and transition to this drive-in, which nowhere near covers the debt we've incurred."

Many posts across California generate their own funds through events, and they provide funding for scholarships and emergency financial relief.

"Members provide vital voluntary services to our communities," Lowe wrote in his letter to Newsom of the posts statewide. "This includes over 90 thousand hours last year, equating to roughly $2.8 million in donated time and money."

For the older members, the post launched a Buddy Check Outreach program to keep track of senior veterans who may be feeling increasingly more isolated.

"We're making sure they have the things they need, especially early on when you couldn't get toilet paper," Campbell said. "We're checking, do they have the essentials that they need? Do they have someone to check on them? Do they have transportation to their doctors appointments?"

Despite all of these efforts to transition, some members simply fell out of touch in the last several months.

"As much as we try to connect with our older members, a lot of time they're not on social media," she said, adding that the Hollywood post recently had many of its World War II veterans pass away. "We just have an aging population and it's been very sad not to be able to pay tribute to in the manner that we would hope to."

While many veterans have called for a complete reopening of these halls, Campbell says that could be a risky decision.

"I don't think the answer is necessarily just opening up altogether because what I would hate to see is exposing aging members to the virus who would have an even harder time fighting it," she said.

To transition to a safer space in which posts could reopen, Campbell says she hopes the state will consider offering more resources to the halls and veterans in the state.

"I think the bar element is important to a lot of posts, but it's not the only element," Campbell said.

While many of these posts did in fact hold liquor licenses, Lowe and veterans organizations across the state have maintained that the posts should not be classified as bars and that the closure of such posts and halls was causing "significant hardship on countless veterans, as well as threatening the long-term existence of these important places."

"Unfortunately, many of our posts have halls and possess liquor licenses," Lowe wrote in a September letter to Newsom. "...many of our posts are not just halls with bars, but rather hubs within our communities providing a wide range of essential programs..."

Newsom's office did not immediately respond to Patch for comment.

From March to September, the VFW Service Department recorded a drop of more than 850 veterans' claims, according to Lowe. And the lack of compensation received by veterans' families also decreased by $2.2 million, Lowe added.

These posts, according to Members of the California State Commanders Veterans Council, serve as a refuge for veterans who suffer from physical and emotional trauma. Before the closure, many posts had trained veteran service officers who could help veterans apply for benefits such as health care and mental health care, the letter states.

Lowe says that without these posts, veterans are forced to commute to larger urban centers to receive assistance, "whether this means free, professional help filing, or appealing a VA disability claim, providing a therapeutic place for our veterans, assistance with veterans who are homeless or contemplating suicide."

Posts also once offered assistance with education access and job training. As a result of the months-long closures, "thousands of veterans" were unable to access these resources, the letter states.

Lowe also says that these closures have impacted California's economy, adding that the VFW processed 3,400 claims in 2019 alone, which rewarded in $30 million of compensation and pension benefits to veterans and their families.

"While we understand and commend your efforts to protect Californians, we hope you will reconsider classifying our post home as 'bars' and allow us to open for important veteran-related activities while adhering to COVID-19 precautions," Lowe wrote to Newsom in September. "Our motto of 'No One Does More For Veterans' is being curtailed by the pandemic, but also from unnecessary regulations at all levels of government."