American Legion Post 68 swears in first female commander

LELAND, NC (WWAY) — John E Jacobs American Legion Post 68 swore in it’s first female commander during it’s July meeting Thursday night.

Beatrice Frost has been a post-member for the past 5 years.

A retired Air Force sergeant, Frost served one tour in Washington D.C., working as a military pay clerk for the Air Force during the Vietnam War.

Since leaving the Air Force, Frost has served as a director of volunteer development with the Girl Scouts of New Jersey and as a regional volunteer coordinator for the American Red Cross.

The American Legion is the nation’s largest wartime veterans service organization.

Post 68 has more than 200 members.

Frost said she hopes her appointment as commander will help bring new members to the post.

“I think that having a female in the lead will hopefully encourage other women to join,” Frost said. “Part of our goals is to increase our women participation because women are veterans too. In fact, today, they account for 19% of the armed forces.”

Former post commander Dale Todd said Frost became a strong candidate to be commander due to how much she had helped the post during her time there.

“She got involved,” Todd said. “In the last several years, she’s been involved in a number of committees, always helping out at major events. Always helping in any way she could to make the post better, to increase our members and spread our membership. So she’s got a great personality, great mind and she’s just a tremendous veteran.”

Frost said she hopes to make the Post more efficient and improve community engagement.

“I tend to be the one that questions things and I tend to be the one that will look it up and get the facts and then say why are we doing it this way when we could do it this other way,” Frost said. “So I think I can bring maybe a little bit more efficiency and plus I think that I can also get people engaged with each other.”

Frost can serve up to 2 consecutive 1-year terms as commander.