For years, the Greece Post 468 has stood as a pillar of service and camaraderie. While veteran organizations across the United States encounter challenges in membership and engagement, Greece Post 468 continues to adapt. At this American Legion Post, a commitment to service is found between each member.
Dan Perna has been the post commander at Greece Post for one year. Perna has been part of the American Legion for 16 years and is a Vietnam Veteran. He is committed to volunteering.
“I’m a motorcycle enthusiast, and I found out that American Legion had a motorcycle group, a military motorcycle group,” Perna said. “Because of my veteran status, there was an opportunity and I wasn’t interested in getting in the outlaw games, but I also was interested in riding with a bunch of people … So I joined the American Legion.”
Perna says he embraces the opportunity to be the Greece Post commander. He is still involved with the American Legion Riders and the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. (VFW). Perna appreciates the opportunity to work with people that he is close to.
First vice commander at Greece Post 468, Kevin Woodbury, enjoys the camaraderie at the post.
“I’ve been part of American Legion for 13 years, and I was in the VFW, and I decided that I needed to spread my wings a little more,” Woodbury said. “That was down in Rush-Henrietta at the time, which is a small post, and the onboarding was simple. What I’ve run into over the years is that a lot of the posts are smaller until I transferred up to Greece Post three years ago.”
Woodbury says that his experience with American Legion is changing.
“This is like a breath of fresh air and this place is awesome,” Woodbury said. “If I had known about it 10 years ago, I would have moved up here even though I lived in Brighton at the time.”
Members of the post promote community events.
“We have activities going on all the time and one of the big things we have is the Warrior Benefit Concert here,” Perna said. “Once people come to the Warrior Benefit Concert, or they’ve come for Honor Flight or something like that, they realize what we’re really doing here.”
Perna says that the post uses different events, initiatives, and outreach programs to attract people.
“A lot of fundraisers we have open are on the first Fridays of each month. We’re having bands in here and bringing people in and all of a sudden they say ‘yeah, I’d like to join’ and stuff like that,” Perna said. “We have a big barbecue around September. That’s another thing that draws people in and it doesn’t necessarily have to be American Legion members.”
Woodbury says that the post thrives because of their commitment to fundraising. American Legion is a non-profit organization, and members at Greece Post prioritize helping others.
The Rochester Polar Plunge is an annual fundraising event that supports the Special Olympics in New York. Greece Post 468 has won the event two years in a row.
“This post had a group called the Polar Cubs. Last year for it, the fools here went out and jumped in the ice water at Lake Ontario,” Woodbury said. “Personally, I don’t even like cold showers, you know? But they raised $26,000. Our entire county for American Legion only raised $29,000.”
Perna says that events and donations are important at their post.
“We’re not here to make money. We’re here to get money to give money and a lot of it goes to the Veterans Outreach Center,” Perna said. “It goes to things like the Gary Sinise Foundation, things for warrior dogs, Honor Flight, and all these other things. So all the money that we raise goes to these programs that helps enhances these other things in the community.”
Members of the post support initiatives that help in suicide prevention. Data shows that in 2022, there were 271 female veteran suicides and 6,136 male veteran suicides. For male veteran suicides, this number was 83 more than in 2021.
Larry Strassner has been part of Greece Post for 32 years. When Strassner thinks of his fellow vets, he prioritizes their mental health.
The Stop 22 program raises awareness for veterans who take their lives each day due to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The initiative encourages veterans to do “buddy checks” to look after those who are struggling.
“It is basically a walk or run to raise funds and they go for 22 minutes,” Strassner said. “They pay their buck and that goes to the national fund. Our post here also supports the veteran suicide prevention.”
The post held Walk 22 in September of 2024. Perna says that the post continues to push for suicide awareness for fellow vets.
“We had the event this past year and we did something a little different. We did the walk on September 22, and we started at 2:22 p.m. for 22 minutes,” Perna said. “We were interviewed, and everything brought more awareness because the first year we weren’t getting the media down here but this time we got the media to show up and they had it on TV.”
Members of Greece Post love the opportunity to help people.
“When you go to any of these different organizations that involve volunteers, you’re going to see the same faces,” Strassner said. “Because for volunteers, it’s in their DNA. They have to go volunteer and help with this, help with that. Nobody’s getting paid for this stuff.”
Members of the post realize that their lives are better with volunteer opportunities.
“When I retired, my wife asked me, ‘what are you going to do when you’re home all the time?’ I said, ‘I don’t know, sit on my butt.’ Now she asks me, ‘are you going to be home today?’ I’m never home because I volunteer all over the place,” Woodbury said.
The Greece Post 468 provides service for their members and those outside of it. Their members continue to serve the community and make an impact on the next generation.
