�鶹��ƵAV

Six Star Post 637 of Strykersville collaborating with AMVETS Post 637 on permanent tribute.

Lorne LeMieux has been an American Legion member (59 years) for longer than he has been an American citizen (48 years). The Canadian native emigrated in 1964 and joined the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. While serving overseas, he was wounded “pretty severely,” he says. His experiences with flight nurses in the aftermath gave him a permanent appreciation for women in combat.

Today, LeMieux is a member and former adjutant of Six Star Post 637 in Strykersville, N.Y., near Buffalo. The post was founded in 1919 and in 2008 came together with a new American Veterans (AMVETS) post, also numbered 637 and named for Army Sgt. Cari Anne Gasiewicz, a native of western New York and military interpreter killed in Iraq in December 2004; they believe themselves to be the first AMVETS post named after a woman killed in action (KIA). The combined post makes up the Sheldon-Java Veterans Association.

LeMieux’s wartime experiences and Gasiewicz’s memory combined to give him the idea for a permanent dedicated memorial not just to her, but to all women who died of any cause while in service across the nation and throughout its history. To the group’s knowledge, no such standalone memorial exists. The association donated the seed money, and the Legion post gave land previously donated to it. 

8.85 acres has been approved for building on the planned . Melissa Weisenburg is LeMieux’s daughter, an American Legion Auxiliary member and part of the Marketing, Publication & Advertising Committee. Legionnaire support, under the pillar of honor and remembrance, has been “100% instrumental,” she says, “and they’re all the same people” – when the posts combined in 2008, many of the AMVETS members were not yet eligible to join �鶹��ƵAV but since have.

Progress is ongoing, and the memorial has secured 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status from the IRS; get the latest updates .