By Jessica Dillon
The American Legion Homer Dillard Post 78 will host its annual Veterans Day Banquet on Nov. 8. The banquet begins at 5 p.m. at the New College Institute on Fayette Street in Martinsville. Tickets are required and must be purchased in advance for a $30 donation.
“We’re celebrating 108 years of the American Legion and 94 years of Homer Dillard Post 78,” says Adjunct Curtis R. Millner Sr.
The banquet speaker is Henry A. Motley Jr. “He’s an Army veteran of over 40 years of service, and he’s currently the commander of the American Legion Waldon France, Post 29, in Danville, Virginia.”
Motley currently manages the Sexual Assault Prevention and Resource Program for the National Guard Bureau in Arlington, Virginia. His 40 years of service are in the National Guard.
“We are a worldwide organization. We’re in all 50 states, seven foreign countries. We’re America’s largest and oldest veterans’ organizations,” Millner said.
The colors will be presented by the Magna Vista High School Army Junior ROTC. Following the banquet meal, the service songs of the six branches are scheduled to be played: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Space Force.
Certificates will be awarded to honor the Martinsville-Henry County Honor Guard at the banquet. Door prizes and a 50/50 raffle are also available.
“We need to do everything we can to try to encourage our younger veterans to join our different veteran organizations. Currently, the average age in my post is 70. We need some younger veterans to join,” Millner said.
The organization offers a sense of community and a buddy check system to support mental health. “Yes. We have within our organization what’s called a buddy check, where we do monthly checks, telephonically or in person, of all of our sick veterans or hospitalized veterans.”
Anyone interested in joining the post can go online at www.legion.org to sign up, Millner said.
“I belong to the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, and the AMVETS, and all of those can join online, or they can contact me, and I will give them additional information.”
To contact the Homer Dillard Post by phone, call (276) 673-7663 or (360) 253-2716. The post home is located at 139 Creekside Drive, Martinsville.
To buy tickets to the banquet, call (276) 340-5169 or (276) 340-2640. Proceeds support the community and local veterans.
