By By Lee “Lavan” Martin
Little did we know when the Atmore VFW Post 7016, Veterans of Foreign Wars, was chartered in 1995 that a VFW post previously existed in Atmore. One of my first duties as Commander was to appoint a "name the post committee" whose task was to review records, canvass the community, and discuss with Atmore area veterans, to determine an appropriate name for the post that could be submitted to the post membership for approval.
The committee recommended several names to the post membership, all of which were rejected. It was finally decided by the post membership to put the post name in abeyance and instead call the new post the VFW Fellowship and Memorial Post and hence honor all Atmore area veterans until a deserving veteran could be identified and the post appropriately named.
Shortly after the membership voted to name the post in honor of all Atmore area veterans, the elected officers of the new post were made aware of the previous VFW post charted Jan. 9, 1946 as VFW Post 5524, and named the Thomas and Sidney White Post. Family members of Thomas and Sidney White approached the new post's elected officers and asked that the new post begin again with the name, "Thomas and Sidney White Post."
Since officials at the national office of the Veteran's of Foreign Wars informed me that the old post number was gone along with the name, a special post membership meeting was called to meet with he White family members and decide on the post name. The members voted by majority vote that the post be a fellowship and memorial post hence honoring all Atmore area veterans and serving as a fellowship hall for all veterans.
The Atmore VFW Post is thriving today; thanks to the generosity of Atmore are veterans and the citizens of the Atmore community. The post has it's own building now in which Atmore area veterans are honored and remembered. Everyone is invited to come by the post located at 206 West Ashley Street and see our accomplishments. We also invite all Atmore area veterans to contribute photographs and any other service mementos for display in the building. One of our objectives is to have a memorial post that is truly representative of veterans and their service to our great country.
In subsequent articles to the news media, I will tell the Atmore community more about the VFW Post, specifically what has been done and how it was accomplished. Contributions to the post are always welcome and are tax deductible. With the help of Atmore citizens and area veterans, we will achieve our objective.