In Naperville, over 300 young men, representing roughly 10% of the population at that time went into the service during WWI. The Post name represented all Naperville Veterans at the time. On March 17th, 1919 the Paris Caucus for “Comrades in Service” was called to order with the sole purpose to organize a new Veterans Group to insure that all wounded Veterans would receive medical benefits and hel
p for serving their country in time of War. Teddy Roosevelt was an active participant in the meeting. During the Caucus many names for the Group were bantered about and finally Major Maurice Gordon was credited for making a motion calling for the name “The American Legion”. Obviously the name stuck and today there are 2.4 million members serving this great organization. Post 43 Early History:
Back in Naperville in June of 1919, C.W. Reed was selected temporary Chairman of a group of Veterans seeking to form an American Legion Post in Naperville. The application was signed by Reed and 14 other Veterans and mailed to the State American Legion on June 25, 1919. The application was received by State Headquarters on June 27, 1919 and a charter issued by the State of Illinois was dated July 5, 1919 designating Naperville Legion as Post 43. The National Charter was received the following year and dated August 1, 1920 with 126 members strong. Post 43 Current History:
This past year, Naperville Post 43 ended up with over 550 paid members and has risen to one of the top Posts in the State of Illinois thru active involvement supporting our Active Duty Military; our Fellow Veterans; our Community; and our Youth. We remain committed to each of these efforts now and for the future.
