Ricky Younginer was having lunch at a casino in Sacramento, Calif., on March 30 — where he’d gone to watch the South Carolina Gamecocks women’s basketball team play in the NCAA quarterfinals — when he thought a friend was prank-calling him.

Younginer, an Army veteran and father, is a member of the Richland County American Legion Post 6. The post commander was calling that day to tell Younginer he’d been named S.C. Legionnaire of the Year, the American Legion’s top award in the state, which recognizes a member’s exceptional public service.

“Is this a prank phone call?” Younginer recalls saying to the post commander, L.Z. Harrison. When Harrison assured him the news was real, Younginer said he was “blown away.”

Younginer, 60, was born and raised in Lexington. A few years after graduating from Lexington High School, he joined the Army in 1987 and became part of an engineering unit. 

His unit’s missions included building schools for children in El Salvador and constructing roads that would bring supplies to troops on the front lines of the Gulf War (1990-1991)

After eight years with the Army, Younginer left in 1995 and worked as a tour bus driver for a Lexington-based travel company. He ferried people, including college athletes and church groups, up and down the eastern part of North America for 23 years. For two of those years, he was also with the S.C. National Guard.

He retired from driving in 2018 then began pouring his time and energy into the American Legion Post 6, located in Columbia, where he now lives.

Chartered by Congress in 1919, the American Legion has since become the largest organization of U.S. military veterans, advocating for veterans, active-duty personnel and their families while promoting community service and engagement.

Since 2023, Younginer has been co-organizing an annual trip to D.C. for American Legion Riders in South Carolina. Riders join other volunteers in washing the Vietnam Veterans Memorial or the Korean War Veterans Memorial located at the National Mall.   

Two years ago, Younginer spearheaded the riders’ participation in the laying of wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. The group is now preparing to do it for the third year this fall. 

Younginer has spent hours helping with renovation work at Post 6 or assisting in moving furniture, said Harrison, the post commander. And after meetings or events, he said, Younginer stays behind to help clean up the space.

“What truly distinguishes Ricky Younginer is not simply the quantity of his service, but the quality and spirit in which he serves,” Harrison told the American Legion Department of South Carolina when he nominated his colleague for the state Legionnaire award. It’s formally known as the Roy E. Stone Jr. Legionnaire of the Year Award.

“He leads by example, consistently placing the needs of others above his own,” Harrison said in a portion of his three-page nomination letter, which was obtained by the Chronicle.

The award committee agreed, saying Younginer’s service stood out for its selflessness.

“It seemed like he had his finger in every pie,” said Lynn Riddle, chairwoman of the awards committee and an Air Force veteran in the Upstate. “All of his contributions were not about self; it was about serving others in the community.” 

While he was in the Army, Younginer had also been recognized for his service with medals and certificates. But the state Legionnaire trophy was extra special to him because it was so unexpected.

“I was shocked,” he said. “I had no idea.”