Having operated under a temporary charter since June, 1919, Ames Post #37 applied for and was granted a permanent charter on September 24, 1923. The list of members who signed the permanent charter is below.
A number of the veterans who signed the application for the temporary charter in 1919 do not appear on the list for the permanent charter. It would appear then as now that young veterans are a mobile population and that some of those on the temporary charter has moved on as their lives and professions dictated. A number of former and past Commanders of the Post signed the 1923 permanent charter.
Of special note are the five female members that signed the permanent charter.One of them, Ruth Clough, is shown as the Post Historian on the list of officers. To an inexperienced eye, finding five female WWI veterans on the roster of almost any post is surprising.
Another interesting group is the number of Doctors and Dentists in the list, three of each. Story County, Ames home county, only had just over 21,000 people in 1920. Having that many local doctors and dentists gone to military service must have had noticeable effect on the community.
At least two prominent Ames citizens are on the permanent charter listing; Anson Marston whose contributions are discussed in a separate article and Fred Swank, eventual owner of Swanks Jewelers, a store that exists today on Main Street in Ames.
Lastly the questionnaire that accompanied the application for permanent charter states that the Ames Post was maintaining a clubroom in 1923. the location of the clubroom is currently unknown but is the subject of further research. Another universal fact comes to light in the questionnaire. A question is asked as to whether the Post dues were sufficient to provide the financial needs of the Post. That answer was an emphatic NO.
Permanent Charter – Sept 24, 1923
R. W. Nebergall – Commander
Carl O. Powers – Vice Commander
Jay B. Stokka – Adjutant
J. H. Ainsworth – Finance Officer
Ruth Clough – Historian
Robt. Leffler – Chaplain
Everett A. Piester
Earl B. Bush M.D.
Raymond E. Hodges
John E. Goosman
Ole A. Knudson
Arthur B. Buck
Ted G. Garfield
Earl Rice M.D.
Clifford Thompson
Tom L. Rice D.D.S.
David B. Lawrence
Earl Lanning
Lyle A. Olson
Joe Gerbracht
Jamie Angelopulos
Fred C. Eggers
Wm. E. Duckering
Melvin E. Paulson
Rudolph Lichtenberg
Charles E. Shockley
John A. Wilkinson
J. R. Blair
J. R. Redditt
Glen Bute
G. B. Higdon
L. W. Robinson
Alvin R. Lamb
Herbert W. Wright
Tom Geataganos
Paul F. Albright
Chas. C. Schack
William A. Steel
Chas. J. Oliphant
Theras P. Siagres
Walter Gleason
Louis Lambos
Arthur R. Ellis
Earnest B. Washburn
Kenneth F. Trottnow
Clifford V. Marlow
Edward G. Stowell
Robert Campbell
H. G. Guiteros
S. J. Lindquist
Francis E. Been
I. F. Guss
Arthur E. Fields
Frank E. Buck
Leonard S. Stenerson
Arthur Greenfield
C. H. Laraway
Anson Marston
C. C. Crandall
Lee H. Downey
Manfred Stull
Earl E. Enke
Chas. McGrath
Arthur R. Alexander
John B. Gravitt
Henry O’Niel
D. L. Fowler
C. H. Laraway
Nicholas A. Wolff
Fern N. Cole
Henry R. Martin
T. R. Agg
George R. Alley
Blanche Meyers
Oscar Snyder
L. C. Searle
Fred R. Shockley
Sam Smith
Richard Holts
Clay W. Stafford
Bernice M. Ricketts
Grant W. Dudgeon
H. E. Nichols
J. F. Smith
Manosh M. Carpenter
Earnest L. Risley
Karl Brown
Oscar L. Nay
Bruce Cole
L. C. Wilson D.D.S.
E. D. Rolfe
L. A. Brewster
B. G. Dyer M.D.
Joe Koole
C. W. Strouse
H. L. Minert
James E. Wright D.D.S.
Glen L. Bates
David Stipe
Silas B. Larson
Fred C. Swank
John Pulos
W. F. Henry
G. W. Niles
Chas. A. Miller
Bruce Russell
Lawrence E. LeSuer
Bertha Besig
