Meet the

First Black Female

Commander

of American Legion Post 274

Photos by Aimee Dilger | Video and Article by Kelly Dessoye

Amber Viola sits in the middle of a sunbeam. Little specs of dust leap from relics left by soldiers passing through these halls. Now this little outfit at the end of a tree lined road in Gouldsboro PA is under her watch.

Watch the video about Amber Viola.

“Whenever I would come home on leave and my friends would come home on leave, this is one of the first places we would go, and it’s such a big part of the community, so I feel very honored to be able to help people and help Gouldsboro,” she says of the appointment that makes her the first Black female commander of American Legion Post 274.

Amber and her military family landed in Gouldsboro after moving over and over - “they call us brats,” she laughs. Some of the furniture in her Mom’s house is still dotted with the tiny stickers marking each dutiful upheaval. Gouldsboro is the last place they moved and at 17 Amber found “home”.

Amber Viola talks with a reporter in the Gouldsboro American Legion.

It’s a tiny town - churches of varying denominations, a fire hall, and a bait and tackle shop are wedged between houses and cemeteries. American flags float from flower pots, door frames, and headstones. Quintessential white, conservative, Americana.

“We were the only Black family in town - only Black kids on the school bus, there weren’t too many of us at North Pocono High School - and I feel like this community really took us under their wing and loved us,” she says - voice dripping with nostalgia and affection; as she describes the town where politicians are community leaders beloved by both sides as less polarized than other places in the country. “We all live together, we all still hang out, we all still talk to each other. I have friends that believe in things I don’t believe in and we all still co-exist, and get along, and our kids play.” So when she - a young Black woman - was appointed Commander of her American Legion Chapter - a position synonymous with the ‘old white man’ trope - no one batted an eye. “It speaks a lot to the people that are here. They’re willing to be open to different things.”

*Amber prepares dinner for her daughter Jacquelyn while she does homework.*

*Amber Viola’s name appears on the wall as Commander.*

The military is in Amber’s blood. A youth spent globetrotting with her Army parents instilled independence and a drive that sparked a desire to help others. At 23 she strapped on her boots and deployed with the USS Abraham Lincoln where she’d serve as a gunner’s mate in the Navy. “I learned so much about myself and that I could do things that I never thought I could. I learned perseverance and drive and I found out what I was made of and what I could do.” Alongside her day to day duties, she was trained by social workers to be a sexual assault victim’s advocate for the department of defense - a pursuit she’s carried into civilian life as a student at Marywood University’s School of Social Work.

*Amber leans over the bar at American Legion Post 274 while Jane readies the bar for the opening.*

“I had an amazing transition [out of the Navy] but I was the exception.” She credits her Mom and her American Legion - which funded her education through a scholarship - as conduits for her warp speed transition from her base in Virginia to a house in Scranton, which she moved into and unpacked - a single mom with infant in tow - the day before starting school at Marywood. “How did I do all that?,” she muses.

PTSD stoked by lack of a safety net plagues many of the vets coming back from the most recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. “That process [getting out of the military] is really really hard on a lot of people and a lot of people struggle,” Amber says, citing homelessness and poverty brought on by mental and physical impairments as common hurdles. “They feel like there aren’t resources and they end up falling off the grid. It’s hard when you go from two paychecks a month to literally [earning] nothing.”

Moreover, young veterans are burned out after endless cycles of deployments - Amber’s own brother has been deployed 12 times in his 11 year career - leaving the body and mind in an unnatural state of high alert day after day.

“Once you get out of the service, you’re broken.”

— Amber Viola

Many young vets also struggle with imposter syndrome, especially surrounding institutions like the American Legion and VA Hospitals. “A lot of us younger Vets don’t feel like we deserve it. We didn’t earn it because we’re not part of the ‘greatest generation’ or we’re not Vietnam Vets.” Stressing that even the Vets who never saw combat are worthy of resources and assistance. “Don’t minimize your service… I tell people that even the cooks on our ship had a super important job because they’d bring us food, and you’re getting me through an 8-12 hour watch because I have something to eat now.”

That’s why as Commander of her legion, she’s looking to create a safe haven for veterans of all ages, cultures, and the Gouldsboro community at large - dispelling the notion that the Legion is exclusively a resource for Veterans. She recalls times that the Legion gave Gouldsboro community members money to pay heating bills, or that they have a food pantry up and running where people can stock up on dried goods. She also has plans to attract younger veterans - particularly minorities - to her Legion through outreach and events that are alluring to the age bracket of recently retired Vets. “We have a lot of minorities in the military but when you look at the American Legion, a lot of the membership is white. I want to change that assumption and say ‘hey, I come here, my friends come here and they love us and we’re all a part of a community.”