State leadership of the Veterans of Foreign Wars revoked the charter for Hermiston VFW Post 4750, leaving its members at large and without a post to call their own.

HERMISTON — American Legion Post 37 and American Legion Auxiliary unit 37 are looking for a new home, according to the post’s commander, Glenn Bradley.

American Legion and its auxiliary unit have leased meeting space from Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4750 at the VFW hall, 45 W. Cherry Ave. in Hermiston, for about 30 years, Bradley said. But he said that the American Legion was informed on Feb. 23 that it was being evicted from the building and leadership were directed to remove all the post’s property from the building on Feb. 25.

According to Bradley, the local VFW and American Legion posts have always gotten along and worked well together. He claimed the decision to evict American Legion came from the state-level VFW and that local leadership “had nothing to do with it.”

“We’re two service organizations both working at the same goal, and we’ve been working good together for at least the last four years,” he said, referring to the length of time he has been the American Legion post commander.

When the East Oregonian reached out to the local VFW post for comment, Post Commander Herald Roberts said the change was not his decision and referred comment to Dale Pack, listed on the Department of Oregon VFW website as a district commander. When reached by phone, Pack said he couldn’t comment “until such time as a decision has been made.” When questioned about what he meant, he suggested a final decision about American Legion hadn’t been made, but after further questions simply reiterated the VFW had no comment.

Veterans of Foreign Wars is an organization for U.S. veterans who fought in conflicts on foreign soil during their service. American Legion is more broadly open to all current and former service members, and the American Legion auxiliary is made up of spouses, mothers, grandmothers, sisters and female descendants of American Legion members.

Bradley said the group held its last meeting in a church in Umatilla but would like to find something more permanent.

“We would take whatever we could afford,” he said. “We’re not entirely broke but we’re not rich either.”