Legion Post 463 Roanoke

05/30/2026

Reminder, our June monthly Legion Meeting is coming up Thursday, June 4th, at 7 pm. Are you eligible to join? If so, we would love to see you attend and discuss you joining our Post. Requirements under the LEGION Act....

Dates of Service: Membership is open to any Veteran who served on or since December 7, 1941, including periods of peacetime.

Character of Discharge: You must possess an Honorable or Under Honorable Conditions discharge.

Currently Serving Military: Active duty service members are eligible to join.

Other Active Duty: Members of the National Guard and Reserves are eligible if they were activated on federal orders (Title 10) to serve and served at least one day of active duty service.

Send a message to learn more

05/26/2026

There is a classic proverb that says "what goes up must come down", and so it is with the Memorial Day weekend "Avenues of Flags" and gravesite Flags. With tremendous community's help, we started at 5:00 pm this evening, and all 260 Flags and poles were taken down, poles racked, and Flags properly folded for storage until next year. All done in an hour and a half. Thank you to all.

05/25/2026

Commander Mike Ratliffe and all the Post officers and members extend a hardy thank you to all who attended today's Memorial Day ceremony at the Roanoke Cemetery to honor those deceased military who sacrificed so much to serve their country. We appreciate the turn-out on a beautiful day, with the slight breeze causing the Flags to wave in the blue sky. Photos courtesy of Shirley Dust, they are captioned.

05/25/2026

05/23/2026

Thanks to Legion Post #463 members and the community over 450 graveside American Flags have been placed in five cemeteries and 260 "Avenues of Flags" were raised this morning to fly over the long Memorial Day holiday. On this Monday our Post will conduct a Memorial Day ceremony at the Roanoke Cemetery with opening remarks from Commander Mike Ratliffe at 11:00 am. On many years after the ceremony, we have been asked by someone "Why doesn't my grandfather (father, mother, uncle, aunt, son, daughter, etc) have a flag on the "Avenues of Flags" or "why wasn't my brother (sister, etc) name not read on the Honor Roll of Deceased"? In very rare occasions it has been because someway we missed it or did not have the information or other reasons, but we rectify immediately to be correct for the following year. But in 99% of the cases the person did not meet at least ONE of our THREE requirements.

To Qualify for "Avenues of Flags" a deceased Veteran must...
1> Be a Member in good standing of Post #463 upon death. Post buys and flies the Flag, making no difference where the member lived or is buried.
2> Left for service from Roanoke and is listed on the village's Honor Roll monument (near the old IGA store). If desired, family or friend can purchase a Flag from our Post only, currently at $50 our cost, and we will label and fly it each year. Makes no difference where Veteran lived later or is buried.
3> Veteran is buried in one of the five cemeteries the Post places small grave flags on for Memorial Day. If desired, family or friend can buy a Flag from our Post only at $50 and we will label and fly each year.

To Qualify for the Memorial Day Honor Roll of Deceased, meet at least one of the same three requirements above. Many meet two or all three. This year over 500 names will be read, going back to the one Veteran buried in the Roanoke cemetery from the War of 1812 and 260 Flags will be flown. "We Will Never Forget"

05/23/2026

When we posted this a few days back we were at 52 followers on our new FB page. Thanks to you we have already added 21 more. Can we make 100 by MEMORIAL DAY evening?

ARE YOU UP FOR A CHALLENGE?
Please help our Post get more followers who are interested in the Roanoke American Legion. This new FB page will be our main method to communicate to the community and interested people about our activities, membership, events, etc. Can you help us double our Followers by MEMORIAL DAY? Tell your family, friends, share this post, etc. ARE YOU UP FOR A CHALLENGE TO GET US TO 100?

05/21/2026

American Legion Post #463 will hold their Memorial Day Ceremony at the podium of the Roanoke Cemetery, commencing at 11:00 AM on Monday May 25th. Those attending are suggested to bring their own lawn chair.

Memorial Day is a federal US Holiday, originally to mourn and honor military personnel who died WHILE serving in the Armed Forces. Originally known as Decoration Day due to the custom of putting flowers on a soldier's grave after the Civil War, it has evolved to currently remembering all military members who served and have passed away.

05/21/2026

REMINDER: Weather permitting - we plan on any rain holding off until the Flags are erected or dissipates completely by this Saturday morning - Roanoke Post #463 will be putting up the "Avenues of Flags", starting promptly at 8:00 AM. We appreciate any community help in attaching the Flags and erecting the galvanized poles. Then Monday evening we will be taking down the Flags and properly folding them, starting at 5:00 pm, again weather permitting. We can also use help in doing so and after Flags are down, it is also a great time for responsible children to be taught the proper way to respect and fold a Flag. It will be done at a garage adjoining the cemetery. Thanking you in advance, please share the message.

05/19/2026

Tomorrow (Wed) the Post members/helpers will put American Flags on the graves of each Veteran in the cemeteries of the Apostolic Church, Church of the Brethren, Mennonite Church, Trinity Lutheran in the country, and the Village of Roanoke. We have it covered, however on Saturday (weather permitting) we will be putting up the "Avenues of Flags" in the Roanoke Cemetery and could definitely use some able-bodied community members to assist us. We will start promptly at 8:00 AM. We appreciate the help. Then Monday evening we will be taking down the Flags and properly folding them starting at 5:00 pm. Again, we can use help and it is also a great time for responsible children to help with the Flags, and be taught the proper way to respect and fold one. It will be done at a garage adjoining the cemetery. Information about the Memorial Day Cemetery Ceremony will be in the next posting. Thanking you in advance, please share the message.

05/18/2026

ARE YOU UP FOR A CHALLENGE?
Please help our Post get more followers who are interested in the Roanoke American Legion. This new FB page will be our main method to communicate to the community and interested people about our activities, membership, events, etc. Can you help us double our Followers by MEMORIAL DAY? Tell your family, friends, share this post, etc. ARE YOU UP FOR A CHALLENGE TO GET US TO 100?