New Legion leader glad to break down barriers
In 1965, with a group of college students that included future U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, Jacqueline Blount visited Japan with the aim of helping the still-war-damaged nation rebuild.
Later, she met the Rev. Jesse Jackson through business contacts and spent time working for Operation PUSH.
But it was the Schaumburg woman's decades of service in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves that ultimately led to her installation today -- as the first black woman to command Palatine American Legion Post 690.
"We're very happy about that," said Post Finance Officer Don Torgersen, a Navy veteran of the Korean War. "She's been reliable in the job and well-deserving of the position."
The post has had two previous female commanders: Char Jahn in the '70s and Carol Reiter in the '90s, but Blount is the first black commander of either gender.
She doesn't know how unique she is but does feel she's contributing to breaking down barriers. At a time when two of the most prominent presidential candidates are Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, it's all contributing to a sign that times are changing, Blount said.
Her service to the American Legion has helped her hold onto the discipline and relationships she built during her time in the Coast Guard.
"I needed to feel that was still mine," she said.
Blount's list of civilian accomplishments is also long and varied. Among the entities she's work for are the Archdiocese of Chicago, Cook County Hospital, Harper College, Sylvan Learning Center and the Illinois Department of Human Services.
What connects them all, she said, is that she was "doing what I wanted -- making people feel better."
And that ties into one of her goals for the Palatine American Legion Post.
Though it's already active through scholarships, a baseball team sponsorship and a $2,500 annual program to help needy kids at Christmas, the post should reach out even more to newcomers in the community, Blount said.
She'd like post members to help people moving to the area adjust to the different culture of the suburbs.
Torgersen agreed this was a worthwhile project.
"It's certainly in the American Legion's interest to help people assimilate," he said.
Blount also wants to continue the post's emphasis on new membership. She feels she's going to need younger people and new ideas to help implement her goals.
At 65, she doesn't feel her own ability to help others has been diminished, though.
"Age was never a factor for me, and it remains that way," she said. "I have a lot of energy."
She raised her two daughters and son as a single mother, with the help of her Coast Guard job and her own mother, who looked after them when she was on active duty.
Her older daughter, Chantal Blount, said she and her siblings are proud of the new honor their mother has received, and appreciative of the struggle she endured to raise them well in Rolling Meadows.
"If I could stand on the mountaintops and shout it, I would," Chantal Blount said. "She made our way in the Coast Guard. I tried the Coast Guard and I'm not capable of that. I wish I could follow in her footsteps."
The installation dinner is this evening at the American Legion Post in Palatine. Blount's term is for one year, though some commanders, like her predecessor Ron Bitner, have served multiple terms.