American Legion Post 126 in Morehead recently elected the first female Commander since the post’s inception in 1926. Sadee Louise was elected to the position on July 13. Louise spent nine years in the Navy before being medically discharged, then she moved back to Morehead.
Louise said that’s when she found a sense of community in the company of her fellow veterans at Post 126. She said she’s been in positions that are typically held by men before, but her goal is always to simply do the job at hand.
“I’ve generally in my life been the person that has run away from the ‘female doing the job’ aspect of it and I’ve tried to just be a person doing the job well, but in 98 years of this being a post I am the first female, so there’s not really any running away from it,” said Louise.
She said the commander oversees many different tasks at the legion, but her focus is listening to and helping members.
“I really just try to develop relationships with as many members as possible, find out what their concerns are and what their goals are, and try my best to support those and take all of their amazing ideas and make those things happen,” Louise said.
She added there are many different clubs under the legion’s umbrella for people who have not served. Some of these clubs like the Sons of the Legion and the Ladies Auxiliary are for veterans’ families, while Friends of the Legion is a club designed for civilians with no ties to the military. Louise said legion events that are open to the public include a donation breakfast every Wednesday at 8 a.m., themed dances, and game nights. She said information about these events can be found on the post’s Facebook page.
Louise said the most important thing to come from her history-making appointment is the added attention to the post, which she hopes will result in a continued increase in new members. She said Post 126 was recognized for meeting its 2024 recruitment goal by April. Post 126 is located at 140 American Legion Way in Morehead.