by Kennedy Cooper, District 1 Commander

A Hall Comes Home

GARBERVILLE — After 10 years without a home of their own, Southern Humboldt’s Veterans opened the doors of the new John Haynes Veterans Memorial Building on Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, at 483 Conger Street. The same afternoon, American Legion Post 494 received a new charter renaming it John Haynes Post 494, in honor of the young soldier whose mother gave the land the hall stands on.

The grand opening was hosted by American Legion Post 494 and VFW Post 6354, with Humboldt County, and members of the community. More than 100 people attended.

Who John Haynes Was

John Haynes was born in Eureka on Dec. 23, 1918, to a family of Finnish immigrants. On Oct. 16, 1940, the first day of the nation’s first peacetime draft, he registered in Garberville and named one person who would always know his address: his mother, Esther.

Drafted into the U.S. Army Air Forces, Private Haynes served with the 680th Ordnance Company, Aviation, the ground crews who armed fighter planes. His company reached the Philippines in the fall of 1941. On Dec. 8, 1941, hours after Pearl Harbor, Japanese aircraft struck the American airfields there, and John was reported missing. He was 22. He was the first soldier from the Garberville area to die in World War II. He is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and was awarded the Purple Heart.

A Mother’s Gift

John’s death left Esther with no surviving children. She had already lost her younger son, Hugo, in 1928, and her husband in 1935. She later married Otis Underwood and remained in Garberville.

After the war, local Veterans set out to build a hall of their own. When they asked to buy Esther’s lot at the corner of Conger and Locust, she refused payment and donated the land, freeing every dollar they had raised for construction. The John Haynes Memorial Veterans Hall opened in 1960. Esther lived until 1966.

For more than half a century the hall served Veterans and the whole Southern Humboldt community. A 1970 agreement with Humboldt County named three organizations to use and care for it: American Legion Post 494, VFW Post 6354, and World War One Barracks #2392.

Ten Years Without a Hall

In May 2016, county inspectors found black mold in the walls and ceiling after years of roof leaks, and the hall was closed. It was demolished in 2023. Through those years, members of VFW Post 6354 led the push to rebuild, joined by members of American Legion Post 494 and the wider community, appearing at meeting after meeting of the Board of Supervisors. Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell championed the project.

On May 6, 2025, the Board voted 4-1 to award a $3.79 million construction contract to Adams Commercial General Contracting of Eureka. Ground was broken that month. The new county-owned building includes a meeting hall, a commercial kitchen, a memorabilia room and a fenced patio. The American Legion and the VFW will both hold their monthly meetings there, and the hall is available for community rental.

The Ceremony

Speakers included a multitude of community members and Veterans. WW2 Veteran George Mullins cut the ribbon held by Legionnaires, VFW Members, and Veterans alike.

In a separate ceremony, Post 494 was presented with its new charter as John Haynes Post 494. The renaming was made with the blessing of Roberta Ronlund, a granddaughter of Esther’s stepdaughter Freda, so that John’s name and Esther’s gift will be carried forward by the post as well as the building. Roberta and her uncle Dennis Ronlund were unable to attend.

Department Commander Janice Somers, unable to attend because of a scheduling conflict, sent her appreciation to the County of Humboldt, the VFW and The American Legion for making the day possible. A restored photograph of Esther, taken from a New Year’s card preserved by distant family in Finland, was presented to hang in the hall.

Carrying the Name Forward

The new building and the renamed post now carry John Haynes’s name side by side, so the next generation knows who he was and what his mother gave.