The following are quick looks at three of Dorchester’s veterans posts that were gathered and written Katie Zigelman, an undergraduate student in the Northeastern University School of Journalism.

John P. McKeon AMVETS Post 146 – This well-known post is struggling some in gaining new members as it approaches its 60th anniversary. Its rolls now list under 600 members. Post Commander Roger Layden, who served in the Army during the Vietnam War, said one of the administration’s goals is to “keep the veterans name alive. Our membership is getting smaller and smaller as the Koreans are passing and the Vietnams are getting older,” Layden said, referring to veterans of the two conflicts while noting that younger veterans don’t get as involved with posts as their predecessors.

Post members continue to be active, and their building is a favorite attraction in the area for those hosting celebratory events. Red Graham, the post’s manager, says all events are welcomed except for bachelor parties or birthday parties for people under 30, including sweet-sixteen parties. The post recently hosted its annual golf tournament at the D.W. Field course in Brockton to support its scholarship funding. Each year an award is given to a child of a member. McKeon veterans also do a lot of marching as that season arrives. Upcoming are the Memorial Day parade, which is being hosted by the James E. Welch Legion Post this year, and the Dorchester Day extravaganza.

Post 146 is located at 4 Hilltop St., Dorchester, is named after John P. McKeon, who served as an airman in the Navy in World War II. He was shot down in the final days of the war, on Easter Sunday 1945. Commander Layden doesn’t see any major changes in the future operations of the post.

“We want to do what we’ve been doing for the past 60 years: keeping the veterans’ name alive,” he said.
St. Mark’s VFW and AMVETS Post 1758 -- What was once an elementary school is now home to two veterans’ organizations. The St. Mark’s Post 1758, located on Bailey Street in Dorchester, has been a place of relaxation and refuge for hundreds of veterans over the last 65 years. The bar manager at the post, Skip Hodge, said that there are several hundred members from the two posts. He added that he has seen an increase during the past couple of years.

Like their service colleagues down on Hilltop Street, members march in local parades and participate in various leagues involving things as different as pool and wooden-bat baseball. The VFW section of the post is led by Commander Michael Hegarty, a local firefighter who served in the Army during the Gulf War.

The Bailey posts are located where the Thomas Francis Lean School once stood, and have two addresses: 63 Bailey St. and 69 Bailey St. Hodge said the organization is doing well. “I don’t see any problems in the near future,” he added.

Other Dorchester Veterans Posts

AMVETS John P. McKeon Post 146
4 Hilltop St, Dorchester, 02124
(617) 436-2911

JJ Rice Post 28
33 Romsey St., Dorchester, 02125
(617) 436-9445

St. Mark’s Post 1758
63 Bailey St., Dorchester, 02124
(617) 436-8939

VFW St. Mark’s Post 1758
69 Bailey St., Dorchester Center, 02124
(617) 436-8939

Boston Police Post 1018
500 Morton St.
Dorchester Center, 02124
(617) 282-4055

Captain David L. Ramsay/
Patrick E. Toy Post 8772
54 Woodrow Ave.02124
(617) 436-9483

Neponset Post 5834
362 Neponset Ave.
Dorchester, 02122
(617) 436-9331

Old Dorchester Post, American Legion #65
500 Gallivan Blvd.,
(617) 436-3311