History of American Legion Post 69
Sep 15, 1919
The very first charter for Post 69 was under the name of "John Marion Goad". John Goad served with the 48th Aero Squadron during the war. He became the first soldier from Greene County to be killed after his plane was shot down behind enemy lines on June 27, 1918. Note that our post was chartered one day before the official signing of the American Legion into existence by the federal
Sep 16, 1919
This is the document signed by the President giving the rights to the American Legion to be a binding organization acknowledged by the US government.
Sep 29, 1919
Photograph of Paul A. Frey, the first commander of the Goad-Ballinger American Legion Post. During World War I, Frey served as captain of Company C, 130th Machine Gun Battalion, 35th Division. He also served with Company K, 2nd Missouri Infantry on the Mexican border. He was injured and wounded in the Battle for the Argonne Forest on September 29, 1918. Later, in 1932, he became the
Jan 1, 1920
Guy C. Gibbs was a Springfield native that joined the Army on April 15th, 1918, and was in Company A 49th engineers and later the 119th Transportation Corps. He served in France from July 1918 to July of 1919 until he returned to Springfield. His Wife Mrs. Gibbs was also instrumental in the founding of the ladies Auxiliary as being the Auxiliary's first Vice President elected at Post
Aug 1, 1920
Portrait photographs of Lieutenant John M. Goad and Sergeant Homer J. Ballinger. The two American Legion posts, Goad and Ballinger merged in August 1920 after being separate entities. The Goad Post was named after John M. Goad who was the first Greene County soldier to die in World War I. He was shot down in his airplane behind the German lines on June 27, 1918. The Ballinger post was
Jun 17, 1921
The first unofficial (pre-chartered) and subsequent official meetings for the first few years (up to 1927) of the American Legion Post 69 Ladies Auxiliary.