GREENFIELD — While America is celebrating 250 years of independence, Greenfield’s Bill Phelps is celebrating 51 years as a member of American Legion Post 81.
Phelps, 78, spent three years in active service in the U.S. Army, which included 22 months as a Green Beret paratrooper in the Vietnam War. He later spent 19 years in the Air Force Reserve.
Over his decades with Post 81, he is credited with establishing the adult baseball team, aiding the design and installation of multiple memorials in town, and leading renovation projects at Veterans Field.
“I just don’t wanna slow down,” Phelps said.
Phelps said that when he returned home from Vietnam in 1968, the American Legion was mostly a club for World War II veterans, but over time, it grew more welcoming to the younger crowd.
“When my friend and I got home from Vietnam in 1968, the Legion wasn’t real welcoming to us young vets at Post 81,” Phelps said. “We went through the ‘third degree’ to get in the canteen to grab a beer.”
His mother and stepfather, who was a World War II veteran, had signed him up to be a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and encouraged him to get involved in other veterans organizations. In 1975, when he heard the American Legion was starting a youth baseball league, he inquired about adult baseball, sparking a decades-long tradition.
“I was previously a Legion baseball player on the 1963-1965 teams,” Phelps explained. “No teams existed between 1966 and 1974, and I joined the Legion to get the sports teams going, and as time went on I got more involved.”
Phelps said he briefly moved out of Greenfield, during which time the post’s involvement in baseball dwindled, but when he returned in the 1980s, he revived the team.
“Post 81 has had teams for the past 42 years straight, with a number of zone and district championships and several entries into the state tourneys,” Phelps said.
Outside of Post 81 baseball, Phelps also coached baseball for Greenfield Community College and Franklin County Technical School in the 1990s. He himself played baseball for the community college and Greenfield High School when he was a student.
“One of the major things I’m still doing for the post is chairing and managing the two American Legion baseball programs for area youths from 14 to 19 years old,” he noted.
While sports were what initially drew him to Post 81, Phelps said he has become more involved in the American Legion’s other activities over the years, and eventually served as junior vice commander, senior vice commander and commander of the post.
“Even though the sports teams were the driving force to get me started in the Legion, I eventually got much more involved. I started attending the meetings, which at one time were Sunday mornings with free hot breakfast included in the upstairs banquet room on Legion Avenue,” Phelps said.
Bill Phelps watches as Lyman Signs of Phillipston installs the new baseball scoreboard at Veterans Field in Greenfield in October 2025. Phelps was the driving force behind replacing the faded old scoreboard, which was no longer functioning. The old scoreboard is shown on the ground. Credit: PAUL FRANZ / Staff File Photo 
Mowry & Schmidt’s Bob Provost, left, and American Legion Baseball Chair Bill Phelps are all smiles displaying an American Legion plaque in front of the new Veterans Field press box built with Legion funds. Credit: DAN LITTLE / Staff File Photo 
Vietnam-era veterans Bill Phelps and Dennis Dwyer salute after laying a wreath at the Vietnam War Memorial at Veterans Mall in Greenfield during ceremonies on Memorial Day in Greenfield in 2025. Credit: PAUL FRANZ / Staff File Photo
Phelps said he has also assisted in designing memorials, including the Greenfield Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan memorials, and managed upkeep and maintenance of Veterans Field. He noted he is proud of his efforts to build announcer booths and install a new scoreboard at the field.
As time has gone on, Phelps said he’s seen American Legion membership dwindle, noting that when he was commander in 1986-1989, membership was as high as 400. It is now 75 members. He would like to see more younger veterans get involved, and said he plans to stay involved in Post 81’s baseball team and as its financial officer.
“I’m still going strong,” Phelps said.
