Turning tragedy into triumph, the veterans of Marshall’s Davis-Sexton American Legion Post
317 want to help the devastated community with their central and beautiful location along the
French Broad River in downtown Marshall, N.C.
Post 317 will open its doors to the community with a rentable 1,500-sq.-ft. event space planned
after reconstruction from Hurricane Helene. The Legion hopes to be ready by June for
musicians, wedding receptions, conferences, bingo, community dinners and other events.
This is a long road back to recovery. The Legion building, located right next to the river,
survived the Flood of 2024 from Helene. But initial costs totaled more than $260,000 in repairs.
“We pulled out mud-covered American flags from our post, and we were just devastated at the
level of destruction,” said American Legion Post 317 Commander Joe Schmidt, a Navy
submariner veteran.
Schmidt put out the call nationwide that Marshall’s veterans needed help. Many other posts
rallied with fundraisers to help get the $80,000 needed to fix the building’s foundation.
The post’s recovery is all thanks to generous donors and volunteers from around the country
and to Fixin’ It for Christ, a Charlotte-based ministry volunteer organization. After local business
Every Angle finishes the foundation in mid-March, Fixin’ It for Christ will fix the rest of the
nearly 100-year-old building.
“Our community has been through so much in the nearly 6 months since Helene swept through
our hometown,” said Donovan Scully, Post 317 veteran and post-9/11 Army Green Beret. “We’re
all devastated, but we want to rebuild back even stronger. We’ve all become one big family, and
family opens its arms to each other. This is our way of giving back.”
Before Helene, the Legion building focused on events for veterans and their families. After
Helene, the Legion building will have events for veterans, their families and their communities.
In addition, Post 317 hopes they can help fund other initiatives that help the community through
the building’s reasonably priced event space rentals.
“We’re excited about our future as Marshall’s American Legion, and all the good we can do for
our community,” said Schmidt.
