National Legion commander visits Ephrata

EPHRATA - The American Legion's national commander spoke about the need to support troops coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Fang Wong, the national commander, visited Ephrata's American Legion post as part of his third trip to the state. He spoke Monday night about how many people know about the Legion and are grateful for the help they provide.

Wong is honored to represent the 2.4 million American Legion members, and the other veterans, he said. His position allows him to travel across the world to visit with soldiers and Legionnaires.

He shared his experience going into Afghanistan, saying the US Department of Defense offered him the chance to visit the country. He went with the leaders of three other veterans organizations.

"Of course it's such an honor, such an opportunity, I jumped at the chance," he said. "Once we get in country and we landed and start meeting the troops, guess what, they're pretty fast. They beat me to the punch every time. They always jump out grab your hand and keep saying, 'Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.'"

The greeting surprised Wong, who expected to thank the troops for their service, he said. When he asked why they were thanking the Legion, the soldiers told him they were grateful for the services the Legion provided.

"There are three things that we want you to know and how much we appreciate it," Wong said. "They wanted to thank every one of you for your support, for the letters, e-mails, care packages to them. Showing them how much you care about them ... They wanted to thank each and every one of you for your support of their families back home."

The soldiers wanted to thank the Legionnaires' advocating for a strong national defense budget, he said. The soldiers told him they receive the necessary funding because of the work Legionnaires do.

The American Legion's responsibility to the troops returning is to offer support, Wong said. He pointed out 40,000 troops returned home between Iraq and Afghanistan in December."We're very happy they're home safely," he said. "You want to go up there and welcome (the troops.) Welcome them home and thank them for their service ... The second thing is to ask them, 'What can we do for you? What kind of service, what kind of support do you need?'"He didn't want Legionnaires to try recruiting the soldiers. Wong said joining the American Legion isn't a priority for the returning soldiers.

"For that matter, joining any veterans organization is not their priority," he said. "What do they care about? Three things, jobs, school, family. Not necessarily in that order, but one of the three will be their top priority and the other two may be pretty close."

The American Legion's job is to provide help to the troops, and give them the support and services they need, Wong said.

"I told the troops in Afghanistan, Korea, Okinawa, Guam. Basically the message is like this, 'We are the American Legion. Here's the things that we do. Here are the programs that we are involved in. The important thing is, you don't have to be a member of the American Legion in order to get our support and service.'"

The soldiers earned the right to the Legion's support through serving in the armed forces, he said. He pointed out the organization was set up to serve veterans.

"They don't have to be a member. We'd love for them to be a member, but not at this time," he said. "They will come back when they're ready, and we need to keep that in mind."

He suggested the posts work on recruiting veterans from the Vietnam War. He pointed out many of the veterans from the Vietnam War didn't join the Legion as soon as they returned.

"A lot of them are not joining even to this day because of what happened 30 years and 40 years ago," Wong said. "Nasty things happened to a lot of people. A lot of people walked away very bitter, even to this day. They would not consider joining any veterans organization."

The Legion needs to reach out to the Vietnam War veterans, and explain it's time to join, he said.

"Especially for the ones that suffered unjust treatment back then after they returned," Wong said. "We need to explain to them that we have another generation of veterans coming home and you don't want them to receive the same treatment, and you don't like the kind of treatment being thrown at them and us back in the '60s and '70s, maybe it's about time they joined the Legion or for that matter join the other veterans organizations."