The van was donated by Murphy’s Auto Care in Beavercreek, which is owned by Dave and Jan Murphy. The Murphys have donated vehicles to other members of the community, including members of the military.
According to Wade, the post received the van about a month ago and even used it on Veteran’s Day.
“We transported the Honor Guard down to Kettering to perform the ceremony for Veteran’s Day,” Wade said.
“If we need to take a vet down to the VA center down in Dayton, we’ll do that,” Wade said. “And if we have some errands to run that are associated with veterans, we’ll go wherever we have to go to get it.”
Keith Sage, commander of the post, said that this 1979 Dodge van is in very good shape and only has about 85,000 miles on it. He said this will help the Legion members out a lot, especially when making deliveries.
“Sometimes they will take two or three cars, but now they can put it all in the van,” Sage said. “It makes it so much easier for everybody.”
Jeff Henderson, the county veterans service officer at the Clark County Veterans Office, said their office transports over 100 veterans a month, but their program and vans are separate from New Carlisle’s.
“We take veterans to and from their appointments in Dayton, scheduled VA appointments,” Henderson said. “It would probably just make it a little easier if they are using (their van also) for transportation.”
Wade said New Carlisle’s van will help the post take care of the veterans.
“It’ll help take care of vets, period. Any veteran,” he said. “And we have a lot of different kinds of veterans, and we have Ladies’ Auxiliary, Sons of American Legion, regular American Legion members — they’re all veterans.”
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