Shortly before noon on Sunday, Oct. 2, John Herzog and his wife Margit settled into Adirondack Chairs along the parade route in front of Shepard Park. The American Legion parade that stepped off from Beach Road launched a day of festivities celebrating Lake George American Legion Post 374’s 100th anniversary.
“The organization is most of the time parades and things,” says Herzog, who served 25 years in the U.S. Army and is a long-time American Legion member. “The parades bring back pride in what we were, what we did,” he says. But for John Herzog, The American Legion means much more than the pageantry of a color guard or uniformed members marching in formation.
“We always stand ready to provide help,” says Herzog. He explains that as an organization and as individuals, Legion members contribute to their communities. “You have people in the community, like myself. I live here in Lake George, and I’ve done things like … I started the community band in Lake George, things like that.”
Herzog was involved with planning the Village of Lake George’s centennial celebration in 2003, which included installing the Shepard Park Centennial Fountain he and Margit sat in front of while waiting for the parade to start.
The importance of the American Legion to Herzog goes beyond its public service. The services provided to veterans and their families resonate personally with him. “We get discharged, and they say ‘Forget all you learned, alright? It’s all now gone in the past.”’ But, says Herzog, those that just left the service need to stay connected with other veterans. They need to “talk over as to how things are with each other, on how you’re getting along. (They) try to help one get back into the community.”
The American Legion provides information and updates about services available to vets, such as transportation. Herzog notes that veterans in Lake George can get rides to VA offices in Glens Falls and Albany. The Legion helps vets find and use these types of services.
The American Legion, says Herzog, provides “a great feeling of belonging.” He has been a member of the Lake George Post since coming to Lake George 25 years ago. Before that, he was a member in Glens Falls. “You always stay with it, like wherever you go, you have a brotherhood, a sisterhood … you’re accepted as a family member and that’s the nicety of it.”
“He has the comradery again that he had in the military,” Margit added. “That’s what you have in the American Legion.”
Her husband agreed, “It’s a gathering place. Of course, there is also the Legion of Foreign Wars. In order to belong to that, you have to serve in a foreign war. In my situation, I grew up in the 2nd World War. I was born in 1940 in Budapest, Hungary, and I was a refugee in 1946 — grew up in Germany until 1955, and then God brought us over here to the United States.”
“To the best country in the world,” Margit put in.
“When Vietnam came, I went into the service.”
Herzog says that “A soldier doesn’t necessarily have to fight in the world.” He notes that the size of the nation’s armed forces, the number of troops both on battlefields overseas and those supporting them at home, make the military strong. John was stationed in Rockaway, New York, and he recalls what it was like serving there during the Cuban Missile Crisis. “At that time, you know, they talked about atomic bombs, and all that kind of stuff, it was very touchy, but we survived.”
The Sunday afternoon parade up Canada Street was led by the American Legion Color Guard. The proud marchers held high the banners of their country and their post. They were followed by a bagpipe band, a stream of motorcycles, the Lake George Steamboat Company’s mini calliope and fire engines from Lake George, North Queensbury and Horicon.
A chicken barbecue at the American Legion hall followed as part of the anniversary celebration. Post 374 regularly holds fish fries, barbecues and brunches opening their “Dugout” to the public. The day’s events were capped by a Lake George Community Band concert of patriotic music in Shepard Park. The band, which Herzog once marched in with his tenor sax, opened with the National Anthem. The band performed classic marches, contemporary tunes and a few hymns. Their poignant playing of Amazing Grace filled the park just as the setting sun turned the skies over Lake George a deep shade of orange.
Earlier in the day, as the distant strain of bagpipes announced the start of the parade, John Herzog reflected on his decades of military service and American Legion membership. “As a soldier, you’re a number and that’s the whole thing … it’s part of me, my life. The brotherhood lives.”
I was born around that area, in the 50’s. Sadly, my father was laid off from GE and it necessitated my family in to moving to Los Angeles. I have yearned to still feel connected to upstate N.Y. We picnicked all the time at Lake George. It is so nice to see the most precious location in the World being so well cared for. Please kiss the ground for me.
I have known John Herzog since being neighbors in Queens back in the 70’s. We have stayed connected all these years and John exemplifies all that is good about our country. He has never hesitated to help a friend, a neighbor or a stranger in need. He has made me so proud to be his friend and we are better as a nation because of patriotic warriors like John.