Chris Garcia Named District Commander
Chris Garcia, commander of American Legion Post 414 in Olney, has been elected as the new District Commander for the American Legion’s District 13, marking a significant achievement for him and promising new opportunities for Olney and the surrounding communities.
Mr. Garcia, who will officially assume his two-year term during the Department Convention in Austin on July 12, described his election as both an honor and a responsibility to restore the district to its former prominence. District 13, once among Texas’s leading districts, has faced challenges with declining membership and engagement— issues Mr. Garcia has addressed at Post 414.
“Post 414 was a little rough when I first joined and we’ve made some huge changes,” he said. “We got some new membership in there, we’ve cleaned the place up and ... we started doing some programs and that caught the attention of a lot of folks throughout the district.”
So much so, that the district membership advised the current district commander, Denton County Judge Forrest Beadle, to take Mr. Garcia as his vice commander two years ago. Mr. Garcia ran unopposed for the district’s top job earlier this year.
During his tenure as vice commander, he helped reestablish Graham’s American Legion Post and grow its membership.
“Now they’re running strong with a huge membership base,” he said. “They were in the paper for … putting together care packages to go to the Marines.”
Under his direction, the Olney post will temporarily move its meetings to the Olney-Young County Senior Cub Center to try to recruit potential members. The first meeting will take place May 22 at 6 p.m.
“We do feel like there may be some veterans here in town who might be willing to join the American Legion and be a part of some of these things but may not necessarily want to associate with the bar that we do have,” he said.
Mr. Garcia’s commitment to revitalizing the district includes enhancing communication among posts, implementing successful programs from Post 414 at a broader scale, and emphasizing youth and veteran support initiatives.
“There’s so many different programs that the American Legion offers that we’re not taking advantage of,” he said. “But it really starts with making sure that you have the members … who are willing to put forth the effort to make those programs come to fruition.” Under his leadership, Post 414 recently recruited the first Olney student to compete in the Legion’s nationwide rhetorical contest, and is sponsoring local Boys State attendees for the first time in decades. The Post also is preparing to re-establish a scouting troop in Olney.
Mr. Garcia emphasized the potential scouting program as a critical youth engagement effort, noting, “my big focus has always been a lot of youth programs mostly because I am a father and, and I know that there’s a lot of need for some youth programs in Olney outside of the school.”
The programs also call attention to the organization’s presence in the community and, hopefully, will drive membership, he said.
“Even if it’s something small, for instance, flag etiquette,” he said. “If we see somebody who might be flying a flag that may be tattered. Most folks know that you don’t just throw it away. We want to help educate the community that there’s a place that you can take the flags and have them retired properly.”
Another of Mr. Garcia’s key strategies will be to bolster veteran support, such as assisting veterans with VA benefits and establishing an honor guard to participate in community events and veterans’ funerals. Additionally, he highlighted a collaborative project with the veteran gaming organization Regiment, aiming to reduce veteran suicide through social connections fostered by gaming.
“Regiment is launching its own American Legion Post within our district, providing a unique opportunity to expand our reach and significantly boost membership,” he said. “We’re building communities where veterans can reconnect and support each other, which is invaluable.”
By the end of his term, Mr. Garcia aims to see District 13 return as a top-performing district in Texas, driven by active community involvement, robust youth programs, and solid veteran support systems.
“We have - as far as membership is concerned - a very good opportunity for District 13 to grow to one of the biggest districts, not only in the state of Texas, but in the United States,” he said.