Mail Call: Legionnaire needs to keep print edition

In reading the letter regarding putting the Legionnaire online, I have some comments.

I have been in the Legion for 45 years. I retired from the Army Reserve after 21 years of service.

I know if the Legionnaire was only online, I would not read it.  My wife and I enjoy having a cup of coffee and sitting down in an easy chair to read the stories of those who have given so much. We don’t always do it in one sitting. We will send in the $35, to keep the Legionnaire in its present form.

Also, when a soldier dies, does the subscription stop? Do family members see their soldier honored in “Taps,” in one last issue? We like the schedule in its present form. What we have noticed is that the “Taps” list is sadly getting longer each issue.

Robert Schreifels

Cold Spring Post 455

Editor’s note: Thanks for asking, Robert, and thanks for sending the $35 donation.

There are no plans to have the Legionnaire exclusively online at this time. Presently, the Legionnaire is 24/7 at Legionnaire.org, and the print edition comes out nine times a year.

The $35 “voluntary subscription” is to help us remain at nine times a year and not have to drop down to six times a year or fewer. The reason it isn’t 12 times a year anymore is that it costs us $15,000-$17,000 per issue to mail out, and it was around $8,000-$9,000 just five years ago, with more recipeints. Meanwhile, revenue from membership declines while costs rise.

As for a deceased member’s family receiving one last issue, what actually happens is Department HQ ends up with many returns when we mail anything to deceased postal customers. We don’t know whether there is a widow in the home. USPS charges us extra for those returns, and it adds up.

We encourage members to bring their copies of the Legionnaire to the families of deceased veterans in the community. Also, anyone may purchase past copies of the Legionnaire for $3 a copy. Some Auxiliary units even purchase subscriptions for widow members for $20 a year.

(As some of you frequent Taps-senders at the posts know, when I am asked, I mail out a copy for free in a first-class envelope to a widow whose husband is listed in Taps.)