History of Adams, Hanna, Moore Memorial Post #156
Maryland's American Legion Post 156 was established in early 1943 based on the idea of Legionnaires Charles F. Brenner and Martin Gilbert. They secured 15 prospective members in order to apply for a Post Charter. A temporary charter was granted in May 1943 under the name of Grantley Post, and the first meeting was held on November 23, 1943. The name was based on the location of the Post's home, Edmondson Avenue and Grantley Street, in Baltimore. State Adjutant Jack Tribby, Vice Commander Ralph Dolby and Department Service Officer James Onion attended this meeting and assisted the initial membership in the formation of the Post and election of the first officers.
Grantley Post grew rapidly during its early years. By the end of the first year the Post had 59 members. This quickly grew to 290 members by the end of 1947, then hovered around 260 through the next decade. During this time, Grantley Post was very active in the community, especially the Edmonson Village area of Baltimore. They sponsored a championship bowling team, a boy's baseball team, Junior Drum and Bugle Corps and oratorical candidates. In 1952, they made a deposit on land on Lohr Lane in Baltimore. A year later, the construction of a post home was begun where many of the members gave their time and skill to complete this building. With the post home, Grantley Post was able to hold meetings, social events, and rent the hall for weddings and other banquets.
In 1973, a motion was made to change the Post's name from Grantley Post 156 to the Gary W. Hanna Memorial Post 156. By 14 April 1974, Post 156 assumed its current name, Adams, Hanna, Moore Memorial Post 156 based on a membership vote to honor three Howard County servicemen who died within weeks of each other in South Vietnam during the Tet Offensive of 1968. Private First Class Stephen Hamilton Adams, USMC, who was killed in action on March 16, 1968; Warrant Officer Gary Williams Hanna, a helicopter pilot with the 9th Cavalry Division, who was shot down and killed in the Thua Thien Province on January 31, 1968; and Specialist 4th Class Thomas Woodrow Moore, a helicopter mechanic with the 150th Transport Squadron, who was fatally injured during a mortar attack on the Vinh Long Airfield, January 31, 1968.
During the 1970's and 1980's, Post 156 still had to scrounge around to find regular meeting places. Some local businesses were accommodating but they weren't always attentive to the Post's needs as they still had customers and clients they needed to keep happy. Also members had to get used to constantly changing meeting venues, a very unpleasant task. Finally on June 13th, 1989, Adams, Hanna, Moore Memorial Post 156 began holding regular monthly meetings in the basement of the Yingling-Ridgely VFW Post in Ellicott City.
During the 1990's membership continued to draw down with the Post losing 50 members between 1996 – 1999. The officers considered merging with another post or reducing the meetings to just 4 times per year in an attempt to mitigate this problem. However in the mid-2000's, due to focused efforts by Post leadership, recruitment and retention efforts began to pay off. Operation MEMBER RETENTION, an effort to visit every member each year, used high school students needing service hours to assist with this effort. By this time, most members had access to email, so a lot of money was saved by not having to spend 37 cents for each letter!
Since then, Adams, Hanna, Moore Memorial Post 156 has grown and prospered. There are currently are over 300 members and the Post is active on many fronts. The Post sponsors an abundance of youth activities including Boys State and Girls State, Cub Scouts, and a Venture Crew, . Recently we've presented a Veteran's point of view at local schools, have representation on the Howard County Commission on Veterans and Military Families, and work with the Alpha Ridge landfill where we've set up "deposit" boxes that allow residents to leave unserviceable American flags for proper disposal and retirement.
Our balance sheet is doing better than ever, allowing the Post to give money and/or items to Charlotte Hall, MCVETs, American Legion Charities, the Semper Fi Fund, The Independence Fund, Vivian Bailey – Care Packages to the Troops, and US Flags for the Garrison Forest Cemetery. In addition, we regularly head over to BWI airport and greet Veterans heading down to Washington D.C. as part of the national Honor Flight Program. We have an excellent time every month at the Columbia Mission BBQ, where we belt out the National Anthem at noon and enjoy some of the best food in the area while mingling with fellow county Veterans. Click on the link below to see Post 156 in action, all the way back to 1948!