When Sgt. Noah Galloway spoke to the men and women of Selma’s American Legion Post 20, he represented two things that appeal to the local branch.

Galloway, an Iraq veteran who was proud to serve his country also represents a new generation of soldier who is involved with the American Legion.

“These guys are like a family to me,” Galloway said during his speech.

Post 20, which averages 25 to 30 members per meeting, has strong numbers. But, past commander Jesse Sanchez and others agree they are lacking in younger members.

Unlike years past, Sanchez said almost anyone who has served in the last two decades qualifies for membership.

“One of the rules was always people had to serve in a time of conflict, but for the last 10 or 20 years that hasn’t been the case,” Sanchez said. “That opens it up to everyone who has served full time or in the guard and reserves.”

The push for younger members is not a numbers game in terms of pride, Sanchez said. It’s a continuing effort to keep up the post’s abilities for community service projects.

“The more members we can get, the more we can put into public service projects,” he said. “We send several students to Boys and Girls State and that costs us $200 for each student. We also have $500 scholarships we hand out each year.”

One of the biggest problems with recruiting members, Sanchez said, is raising awareness. A lot of veterans are members of the American Legion. However, they don’t realize local membership is just as important as state and national posts.

“A lot of them become members of the national and state American Legion and they don’t realize that we are here,” he said. “There are also other people who move here and were members of the Legion somewhere else. A lot of times they don’t know that we can transfer their membership here locally.”

Younger members represent the future of Post 20, Sanchez said. As current members age, he said the sense of urgency in bringing in a new generation of veterans becomes increasingly important.

“We’ve had a hard time getting some of the younger guys to come out,” he said. “But we need to get more members like that; guys from the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. We need to raise awareness to the younger guys and let them know what we are doing.”

Sanchez asked anyone interested in becoming a member can contact him at 872-3331 or 590-2982.