American Legion Post 40 building reopens after facing three catastrophes

SOCASTEE, S.C. (WMBF) - A reopening years in the making, the American Legion Post 40 welcomed back its members Saturday afternoon to a brand new building.

The old building suffered major flooding when Hurricane Mathew passed through the Grand Strand five years ago.

While recovering from the flooding, the building also caught fire, destroying everything within the building.

Just when Post members learned they would have to start all over again, Hurricane Florence arrive and dumped at least five inches of water into the area.

After all the years and struggles, Post 40′s home base is back up and running again. Post Commander Douglas Vinning said he was looking forward to having the ability to further reach the surrounding veteran community.

“We got this building built and we are ready to go back to business,” he said. “We are very excited.”

With their new building, Vinning reflected back on their tough recovery.

“We lost everything; we don’t have anything except our charter,” he said.

That charter is now framed on the wall of the new building, and reminds them of how far Post 40′s new building has come. Ripped paper, burned stains on the corners and all.

Post 40 also received a number of donations from the community in their reopening effort.

The Home Depot provided their new kitchen cabinetry, while a Boy Scout troop donated a bin to properly dispose of torn American flags.

“We had people physically come and help us, we also had people come monetarily help us,” Vinning said.

Now, American Legion Post 40 is in the process of planning its first community event out of its new home.

“We are going on. We are moving forward,” said Vinning.

Copyright 2021 WMBF. All rights reserved.