Educate me, please, on American Legion Auxiliary membership. As in, why would someone want to suddenly join late in life, what are the benefits, etc.? I understand the basic purpose of AL and VFW as essentially fraternal organizations for ex-military/veterans and to raise money, do some good in the community, etc. But what benefit would an Auxiliary member get from joining?
Backstory: my 68 YO aunt --who has been a lifelong fuckup and con-artist-- reached out to me via FB Messenger yesterday asking if I had my Grampa's WWII dog tags or military papers that had his SSN on it. She was DESPERATE to join American Legion Auxillary in Florida and said that she needed a DD214 (which the military didn't issue until the '50s) so she needed her dad's SSN to get this form. She asked my dad (her older brother; they hate one another) for this info and although I know he has the tags he lied, told her he didn't, and to contact Fort Snelling in MN where their parents are both buried to see what info she can get that would prove his military service. Grampa died ten years ago, and Gramma followed 3 years later. My dad and his sister settled their humble estate and have had almost no contact since. My grandparents had 4 children total. My dad was the firstborn. Then came my uncle (died of cancer in his 60s when his parents were still alive), another aunt (died in '63 at 13 of Lupus), and con-artist aunt. At a very young age she learned to capitalize on the death of her sister and being the only daughter, and over the course of her the next 50+ years she'd use that sadness & guilt to go to her dad & get help--usually cash--whenever she needed it, which was monthly if not weekly. Gramma admitted to me before her death that she disagreed with Grampa giving her so much money over the years. My grandparents were both children of the Great Depression. Grampa worked at a power plant as a maintenance supervisor after WWII and made an honest living. They were comfortable but certainly not rich. Gramma told me with some shame that they had given my aunt north of $150K in cash over the years plus two gently used cars over the years. My dad & his brother saw much of this & it chapped both of their asses. This still didn't prevent my aunt from declaring bankruptcy in the '00s. My dad took great joy in telling her that "the bank of Bob and Martha is officially CLOSED" when he completed his duties as executor & all accounts were settled.
Anyway, back to the other day. I told my aunt that I had a copy of his WWII honorable discharge papers that included his Army serial number, an 8-digit ID. I scanned her a copy of the front of this paper only (not the back which contained more personal info). It has his name, the serial number, and date of discharge (11/4/45 at Camp Hood, Texas). It was about an hour after I sent this I get a nervous call from my dad warning me that she might want some info about Grampa and to not give her anything. Fuck. Too late. So I get an earful from the old man just because. Now, I didn't provide her anything of importance or that she couldn't have likely gotten on her own as his daughter. I believe the Army serial numbers have no value. And even if she somehow got his SSN out of this, that would have locked as soon as my Gramma received the transfer of benefits on his death.
So now that I've lost everyone with this long diatribe, did I fuck up? I can't imagine that even if she has enough documentation to join the AL Aux in FL that she can do anything nefarious or benefit in any significant way. Maybe she's trying to find a way to rent a cheap hall for her equally fucked up son & daughter to use for a wedding. Or maybe she'll finally marry her fiancee of over a decade, the guy who is the father of their 25 YO daughter. Oh wait. He's still married to his first wife and living in MN (not a bad plan for him; he only has to visit my aunt once or twice a year).