DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say — and this one's worth every mile. Now, Texas has a way of being first at things, and the story of how the first American Legion Post in the whole state of Texas came to be is one that starts not with a celebration, but with a funeral. The year was 1919.
The war — World War I — had finally ground to its terrible end, and the veterans organization known as the American Legion was just getting itself off the ground nationally that very same year. And down in Commerce, Texas, in Hunt County, something was stirrin'. A man by the name of Dr.
W. B. DeJernett was moved — genuinely moved — by the funeral of Private Albert A.
Barrow, a man who had served in World War I. That funeral lit something in Dr. DeJernett.
He directed the formation of a local veterans group, right there in Commerce. The first meeting was held in a building at Washington and Alamo streets — just two blocks west of where that marker stands today. And then came July 1st, 1919.
That's when it was chartered. The post was named in honor of Bruce B. Williams — the first Commerce serviceman to die in World War I.
A name given to honor a sacrifice. The post carries that name still. From those beginnings — a funeral, a doctor's resolve, a meeting room on Washington and Alamo — Bruce B.
Williams American Legion Post No. 1 went on to become a prominent leader at the state and national levels. First in Texas. Named for the first lost.
That's a weight the post has been carryin' with dignity ever since.
What the marker says
The first American Legion Post in Texas was established at Commerce in 1919, the same year the veterans organization was begun nationally. Inspired by the funeral of Private Albert A. Barrow, who had served in World War I, Dr. W. B. DeJernett directed formation of a local veterans group. The first meeting was held in a building at Washington and Alamo streets (2 blks. W). Chartered on July 1, 1919 and named in honor of Bruce B. Williams, the first Commerce serviceman to die in World War I, the post has been a prominent leader at the state and national levels. (1982)