The 1930s in Belleville was an interesting era.  Scott Air Base was still a teenager and the Old Courthouse was still standing.  World War I had been over for  a decade now and The Great Depression was in full swing. Jobs were still hard to come by but brotherhood was not. Families members supported one another and comradery among war veterans was felt even more.

 

 

In the earliest part of the 1930s, these brothers, who served honorably in foreign wars, banded together and decided to take it upon themselves to charter a  V.F. W. Post in Belleville.    These "Comrades having served honorably in the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps of the United States of America in foreign wars of the United States of America, are hereby authorized to organize and are constituted a Post in the City of Belleville."    Post No. 1739 was sealed on 14 January 1934.

 

 

 

 The Charter Members

 

The following Charter Comrades are listed as they appear on the official Charter.

 

Otto Schneider	George Renner	Harry H. Morton	James A. Williams	Fred A. Stauder	Adolph A. Strittmatter
Peter C. Bergert	Frank Hoffman	George Krupp	Edward P. Cortner	Willis A. Eise	Joseph H. Wellinghoff
August Franke	Philip Loeffler	Benjamin Feldt	Charles Chinn	Edmund Schanz	Roland F. Veile
Frank Yerk	John A. Zacharski	Alonzo Stauder	Arthur Novotny	Charles Wolf	Edwin H. Press
John C. Pollock	Herman Schwellensattl	John McKiernan	Walker Fischer	Wilbert Vollmer	Ernst G. Fey
Henry John Cluver	Frank Huwacheck	Walker L. Rhein	Louis Truttmann	Albert Grohs	August W. Jorn
French E. McElroy	Robert E. Fitzgerald	Albert J. Williams	Adolph P. Michaeli	Geroge H. Reisbich	Martin Birnstiehl
Charles Okes	Emmett Perrin	Adolph C. Tetzlaff	Eugene P. Louis	Frank J. Wagner	Arthur F. Mueller
William Beimbrink	Charles E. Veto	Frederick J. Ruff	Adolph A. Busekrus	Clarence A. Bach	Laurence D. Fournie
Arthur M. Herman	Albert A. Hartleb	Henry J. Seibel	Clements Brielmeier	William Bonhard	Frank Haeffner
Rudy A. Kaiser	Jospeh Kronenberger	Samuel A. Merker	Henry Kronenberger	Frank A. Moore	Walter O. Seitz
Philip Wagner	Anthony Dombeck	Arthur Geber	Henry W. Ude	Benjamin Eschenfelder	Benjamin Emge
Ray W. Behymer	Brady B. Brewer	Joseph Hassenstab	Adolph H. Rittmeyer	Paul W. Becherer	John Gebhard
Walker Koblitz	Albert C. Vetter	Herman Stuempler	Fred C. Mueller	Charles Hausmann	Henry E. Roedersheimer
Joseph Franke	Walker Huschle	Tony Zanco	Albert F. Hipkins	Arthur Krupp	Frank Tyas
Dorris Walker	Frank W. Paule	Charles Burchhardt	Alois F. Schnell	Lester J. Wippo	Williams H. Schwartz
Adolph A. Fischer	John Jay Isch	Edward Bossler	Otto F. Blinn	Charles Ehinger	HenryJ. Paule
Stanley E. Sprague	Julius Weber	Henry A. Heidenfelder	Clarence Hassall	John F. Green	Rudolph O. Schlenck
Louis Wentz	Gus A. Krummrich	Frank A. Kasper	William F. Lobsinger	Charles A. Roth	William Weygandt
Virgil J. Brueggeman	Joseph Grosspitch	Thomas Gannon, Jr.	George H. Florreich	Earl Roedersheimer

 

 

 The Full Charter