In 1973, a motion was made to change the Post's name from Grantley Post 156 to the Gary W. Hanna Memorial Post 156. Some members questioned this motion since Gary's father, a state legislator prior to this time, didn't have a favorable record concerning veterans' legislation -- following a animated discussion, it was decided to honor two additional Vietnam soldiers and include Gary W. Hanna's name. By April 14th 1974, Post 156 assumed its current name, Adams, Hanna, Moore Memorial Post 156 based on a membership vote to honor three Howard County servicemen who died within weeks of each other during the Tet Offensive of 1968 in South Vietnam. Private First Class Stephen Hamilton Adams, USMC, who was killed in action on March 16, 1968; Warrant Officer Gary Williams Hanna, a helicopter pilot with the 9th Cavalry Division, who was shot down and killed in the Thua Thien Province on January 31, 1968; and Specialist 4th Class Thomas Woodrow Moore, a helicopter mechanic with the 150th Transport Squadron, who was fatally injured during a mortar attack on the Vinh Long Airfield, January 31, 1968.
During the 1970's and 1980's, Post 156 still had to scrounge around to find regular meeting places. Some local businesses were accommodating but they weren't always attentive to the Post's needs as they still had customers and clients they needed to keep happy. Also members had to get used to constantly changing meeting venues, a very unpleasant task. Finally on June 13th, 1989, Adams, Hanna, Moore Memorial Post 156 began holding regular monthly meetings in the basement of the Yingling-Ridgely VFW Post in Ellicott City.
During the 1990's membership continued to draw with the Post losing 50 members between 1996 – 1999. Some were due to deaths among the members, but most appear to have been from lack of interest with a typical meeting having only 4 members in attendance. The Post wasn't able to sponsor any of the youth programs, police or fire department awards, or even give money to Charlotte Hall, Maryland's only Veteran's Home. The officers considered merging with another post or reducing the meetings to just 4 times per year in an attempt to mitigate this problem.
In the mid-2000's, due to focused efforts by Post leadership, recruitment and retention efforts began to pay off. Adjutant Bill Smith alone signed up 40 members in one year. Operation Member Retention, an effort to visit every member each year, used high school students needing service hours to assist with this effort. By this time, most members had access to email, so a lot of money was saved by not having to spend 37 cents for each letter.
Since then, Adams, Hanna, Moore Memorial Post 156 has grown and prospered. There are currently are over 400 members and the Post is active on many fronts. The post sponsors an abundance of youth activities including Cub Scouts, a Venture Crew, Boys State and Girls State. Recently they've presented a veteran's point of view at local schools, the have representation on the Howard County Commission on Veterans and Military Families, and they work with the Alpha Ridge landfill where they've set up "deposit" boxes that allow residents to leave unserviceable flags for proper disposal and retirememnt. These flags are gathered quarterly and respectfully retired with the help of various youth groups as well as all the local veteran service organizations.
Their balance sheet is doing better than ever, allowing the Post to give money and/or items to Charlotte Hall, MCVETs, American Legion Charities, the Semper Fi Fund, The Independence Fund, Vivian Bailey – Care Packages to the Troops, and US Flags for the Garrison Forest Cemetery. In addition, members from the post regularly head over to BWI airport and greet veterans heading down to Washington D.C. as part of the national Honor Flight Program. Not everything the Post does is altruistic. They have an excellent time every month at the Columbia Mission BBQ where they belt out the National Anthem at noon and enjoy some of the best food in the area while mingling with fellow county Veterans. They enjoyed celebrating their 75th anniversary at a catered Navy football game, and in 2021 they enjoyed the end of the year Holiday Party by hosting a Covid-19 complient Bailey's Bundles drive that included, music, Santa, Mrs. Clause and best of all, the company. Post leaders have also been influential in establishing an annual Veterans Day Parade for Howard County.