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ST. CLAIR SHORES — On May 1, the St. Clair Shores Historical Commission, members of the Cpl. Walter F. Bruce Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1146 and guests unveiled a new historical marker.
According to an email from the chair of the commission, Jerry Sielagoski, the post can trace its origins back to Halfway, Michigan in 1924. It went inactive in 1926, was revitalized in 1927 and once again went inactive in 1929.
In 1934, four men thought there should be a veterans organization in St. Clair Shores and, after several meetings, submitted their charter on Aug. 31, 1934. These men were Bill Randall, Joe Dendoven, Leo Delo and Charlie Pasters, the email states. The post was initially named “St. Clair Shores” but was renamed in 1935 after the first member of the post, Walter F. Bruce, died in November 1934.
Last year, the post celebrated its 90th anniversary.
Sielagoski said the first thing the commission did was approach the post and talk to its commander, Randy Shafer. He also talked to the VFW of Michigan as well as the national office.
“We were debating exactly whether this post number actually existed previously, how many times, when did it start, when did it end,” Sielagoski said. “And we contacted the national office and obtained all that information.”
A residential marker and a public marker are different. With the residential program, those who would like to date their home have to submit an application. The public markers are through the city. Sielagoski said it was interesting going through all the information.
“We enjoy that tracking down of information and putting the story together and sharing it with our community,” Sielagoski said.
Shafer said he’s excited about the marker and that it was a good experience working with the Historical Commission. It took around six to eight months to gather all the needed information.
“As Paul Harvey said, now we know the rest of the story,” Shafer said. “They found out some things. He read off some things that I didn’t realize.”
Some archived papers were housed at the post.
Shafer said they’re happy to be there at the location on Jefferson Avenue, north of 11 Mile Road. He hopes the post continues on for more years and that they’ll be there for a long time.
“We have a lot of new members, lot of younger members, joining that served in Iraq and Afghanistan and Korea and some other conflicts,” Shafer said.
With over 800 members, Shafer said they are still the largest post in Michigan. However, membership has gone down since Shafer joined 25 years ago.
“Just trying to maintain it and have a nice safe place for veterans to be and mingle and have camaraderie,” Shafer said. “And also, we enjoy sharing our property and our building with other nonprofits and people in the city and the nearby communities. It’s almost like an unofficial community center here.”
The post is located at 28404 Jefferson and the marker is placed in the front of the building for residents and others to view.
