EPHRATA — Jane Montaney said the door is always open for military veterans at the American Legion. 

“The American Legion family is always there to welcome other veterans,” Montaney said. 

Montaney is a longtime member of Art Semro Unit 28 in Ephrata and said the Legion is there to support veterans, no matter when or where they served. 

“We’re about camaraderie. We’re about friendship, even to strangers,” she said.  

The American Legion was founded in 1919 in the wake of World War I and its shattering impact. From the beginning, its members worked to help veterans who came back with wounds and disabilities, help them find benefits as those became available, help them find support. In fact, a 1937 story in Life magazine said the care of disabled veterans was the Legion’s foremost concern.  

Montaney said that commitment between veterans is still central to the Legion’s mission – veterans who come to the Legion may not know anybody, but they’re among friends regardless, she said. 

“We’ve been there; we’ve been through all that,” she said.  

The Legion functions as a resource center, she said, serving as a clearinghouse for information, whether it’s finding the place to file a claim or how to recover lost information. She cited the case of a veteran whose medals and campaign ribbons were lost in a house fire. The Ephrata Legion post helped with the paperwork needed to get replacements issued. 

“His wife was able to give (the replacements) to him on his birthday,” she said. 

People who are curious about the military service of relatives can find out more at the Legion as well. Legion members can help family members file forms for veteran service records, including dates of induction and discharge, where a veteran served, and their areas of specialization, among other things.  

Legion membership is not restricted to veterans – the Legion Auxiliary was founded the day after the Legion itself for spouses, and the Sons of the American was founded in the 1930s to carry on its work after the original veterans passed away. Millions more men were drafted in World War II and until the mid-1970s, the return of the all-volunteer armed forces and changes in the way wars are fought mean there are fewer veterans than there used to be. That doesn’t mean the Legion is just for aging veterans, Montaney said – all veterans and their families are invited to join and take advantage of the support offered. 

The Legion doesn’t have a formal menu, but veterans who stop by usually can buy a sandwich, and maybe soup, for lunch, Montaney said. 

“Part of the reason it always tastes so good, in my opinion, is that you’re always surrounded by friends,” she said.