REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. — Rehoboth Beach VFW Post 7447 is preparing to celebrate 80 years of service to veterans and the community, honoring a history that stretches from World War II to the present day.
The post was established May 16, 1946. With Rehoboth Beach's busy summer season, members decided to hold the anniversary celebration Saturday, Oct. 10.
The gathering will bring together veterans whose military service spans generations and who share an experience that can be difficult to replicate after leaving the military.
"This is a place where all veterans can come and commiserate. The bond you lose when you leave the military is indescribable you have such good friends and comradeship in the military then when you separate its cut off," former Post 7447 Commander Bill Wood said.
The State Road building where members gather has a history of its own — and Rehoboth Beach was not its original home.
The structure was once the Lewes Life-Saving Station at the Delaware Breakwater and later served as a Coast Guard facility at what is now the site of the Cape May-Lewes Ferry terminal.
In 1949, the Coast Guard donated the building to the VFW. It was moved along the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal before eventually reaching its current location on State Road.
"I still to this day don't know how they got this building up from the canal," Wood said.
Inside, the post serves as a place for fellowship, events and remembrance.
VFW Chaplain Kevin Burke pointed to a table honoring prisoners of war and those missing in action.
"This is a table that commemorates the POW's and MIA's so basically there is a chair here that we remember not everyone is here," Burke said.
Post 7447's membership has evolved from veterans of World War I and World War II to veterans who served in America's more recent military actions.
