Albany Veterans of Foreign Wars to celebrate 80th anniversary this weekend

ALBANY – The Albany Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2785 will celebrate its 80th anniversary with a Saturday gathering featuring a barbecue cook-off, food, fellowship and entertainment.

The Barr Allen Post followed the “Pecan Post” that was formed in 1924 but is no longer in existence, meaning that the VFW has a 100-year history in Albany, Post 2785 Commander Paul Murray said. The Albany area has a rich military history, having been the location of U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force facilities in the past, and the home since 1952 of Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany.

With about 450 members, Post 2785 is one of the larger posts in the state.

To be eligible for admission into the organization, a veteran must have served in and received an honorable or general discharge under honorable conditions from one of the nation’s armed forces. That service must include time spent in a war, campaign or expedition on foreign soil or in hostile waters or air space.

With that history of the presence of military forces in Albany, some of those who served at those facilities have retired in the area, Murray said.

At one time there were several times the number of local VFW members than there are currently, but the World War II generation is dwindling.

“Albany has probably one of the largest concentrations of veterans of anywhere in Georgia,” Murray said. “We are starting to get some Iraq, Desert Storm and Global War on Terror veterans. We encourage them to participate.”

The 80th birthday was actually celebrated on March 12, but the weekend also will include the cook-off, which was a popular event last year, on Friday, so the post made the decision to hold the two in conjunction with each other.

The anniversary celebration starts with a free dinner for veterans ($10 for non-veterans) at 4:30 p.m. Saturday that will feature food donated by contestants following the judging for the cook-off.

The post expects guest dignitaries, including Maj. Gen. Keith Relentlow, the commander of Marine Corps Logistics Command, and his aide, Capt. Codi Mullen; Col. Matthew McKinney, commander of MCLB-Albany; Sgt. Majs. Frank Kammer Jr. and Brian Drechsler, and civilian Executive Deputy Erin Kenn.

At 7 p.m. Saturday, Post 2785 will host a dance with the Dirt Road Sports band taking the stage. It is open to the public with an admission fee.

While some people are not familiar with the VFW or what it does, Murray said the local post is an active group and that assisting veterans is a key part of its work. Older veterans who are familiar with applying for benefits available to veterans are sometimes key in helping their younger counterparts in filling out forms and navigating the process, for example.

“Our main purpose is to serve veterans, and we also serve the community because we do a lot of community programs,” he said.

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