Twelve Strong

To Indianapolis for their 80th Encampment this week went the twelve sturdiest of the Grand Army of the Republic's 84* surviving members. They needed their sturdiness. To G.A.R.'s ancients the raucous bedlam swirling around their chairs in the lobby of the Claypool Hotel was almost as terrifying as Pickett's charge at Gettysburg. But after 2,000 members of the Midwest Federation of Syrian Lebanon Clubs had packed up their tom-toms and left town, the old soldiers began to get attention.

As usual, the first order of business was finding the youngest and the oldest. Youngest: Orlando LeValley, 97, of Caro, Mich. Oldest: William Henry Osborn, 103, of Joplin, Mo. But National Secretary Cora Gillis wasn't sure: "Sometimes they change their age from year to year. Some years they want to be the oldest, some years the youngest."

Young or old, the GARsters had strong opinions on the state of the union which they helped save. Said Osborn: "Brother, there's not a free man in this country." Said Hiram R. Gale, 99, who flew in from Seattle: "There's too much selfishness and dishonesty."

With this off their chests, the veterans settled down to the chief business of the meeting: would there be an 81st Encampment in 1947 ? Said Secretary Gillis: "Who can tell?"

* Peak membership (1890): 409,489.

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