Grant Awarded to Assist Local Vets
Walhalla American Legion Post #124 has been endowed with a $9,000 dollar grant, which will be used to establish a fund to assist local veterans from the Walhalla-West Union-Mountain Rest areas. Legion spokesman Jerry Dyar said Lem Chastain of Mountain Rest reached out to his organization with the idea. PFC Lemuel Christopher Chastain from Oconee County died during World War II. His name is one of 145 World War II veterans inscribed on the War Memorial at the Oconee County Courthouse. Lem Chastain felt that the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII was an appropriate time to honor his uncle. Dyar added, “As a result of this benevolent gift we will be able to help numerous veterans from the Walhalla-West Union-Mountain Rest communities for quite a while. We are honored that our American Legion organization was chosen to help in this endeavor”. The Legion spokesman said the project will be appropriately named “The PFC Lemuel Christopher Chastain Memorial Fund”.