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The American Legion is an organization of veterans of the United States armed forces who served in wartime. The Organization was founded in 1919 by veterans returning from Europe after World War I and is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. In addition to organizing commemorative events and volunteer activities, the American Legion is active in U.S. politics. Its primary political activity is lobbying for the interests of veterans, including support for veteran's benefits such as pensions and the Veterans Affairs hospital system.
Today, the American Legion is more widely involved in American political issues. Recently, it has promoted other causes such as support for a Flag Burning Amendment. The organization has also recently supported the Boy Scouts of America in their efforts to refuse membership to gays. In addition, the American Legion is a firm supporter of religion. a few branches of the American Legion have also refused membership to gay or transgendered veterans, or have revoked membership of such veterans.
The Legion's members are a diverse group who do not always agree. For example, while some members believe it to be un-American to criticize the US government during any sort of conflict, the Legion has done so in the past in their open criticism of Operation Allied Force in Kosovo (see below.) The organization questioned the loyalty of Japanese Americans to the United States during World War II and has actively protested against the series of redress and compensation made by the Federal government to surviving former detainees in Japanese American internment camps during World War II believing that the United States was addressing a legitimate security concern at the time and those interred in the camps were treated humanely. The Legion counts among its members several who served in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team during the Second World War, a unit made up primarily of Japanese Americans.
The state American Legions run an annual civic training event for high school juniors called Boys State. Two members from each Boys State are selected for Boys Nation. The American Legion Auxiliary runs Girls State and Girls Nation.
Today, the group has nearly 3 million members.
Timeline
1910s
The American Legion was founded in mid-March 1919 in Paris by members of the American Expeditionary Forces, and chartered by the United States Congress in September of that same year. The first national convention of the American Legion was held from November 10-12, 1919 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The original purpose of the Legion was to "preserve the memories and incidents of our association in the great war". Prior to World War I, few rural and middle or working class Americans traveled to Europe. For a majority of urban Americans, their understanding of Europe had been acquired through the European immigrants they knew. Thus the two million Americans who had served in the American Expeditionary Forces had had very different experiences than their families, friends and neighbors. The American Legion allowed these young men and women who had served "Over There" to re-integrate into their hometowns and to still remain in contact with others who had been abroad. The Legion served as a supportive group, a social club and a type of extended family for former service men and women.1920s
The American Legion was very active in the 1920s. It was instrumental in the creation of the U.S. Veterans Bureau. The Legion also created its own American Legion Baseball Program.1930s
By 1931, membership of the American Legion had reached 1 million.In 1935, the first Boys' State convenes in Springfield, Illinois.
The American Legion's first National High School Oratorical Contest was h
The American Legion's first National High School Oratorical Contest was held in 1938.
1940s
In the 1942, the original charter of the American Legion is changed in order to allow veterans of World War II to join. Throughout the 1940s, the American Legion was very active in providing support for veterans and soldiers who fought in World War II. The American Legion campaigned for the G.I. Bill, which was signed into law in June, 1944.The American Legion was active in campaigning for the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II in relocation camps. [http://www.themilitant.com/2005/6915/691550.html
The first Boys Nation program was held in 1946.
1950s
The American Legion asked for a congressional investigation into the ACLU for their petitioning to end loyalty-oath laws for public workers such as school teachers during the red scare. *Veterans of the Korean War were approved for membership in The American Legion in 1950.
The American Legion Child Welfare Foundation is formed in 1954.
1970s
In 1976, there was an outbreak of bacterial pneumonia among those attending a convention of the American Legion at The Bellevue Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia. This form of pneumonia became known as Legionnaires' disease, or Legionellosis. The bacterium that causes the illness was later named Legionella.1980s
After a 1989 Supreme Court decision, the American Legion launched and funded a campaign to win a constitutional amendment against harming the flag of the United States. The Legion formed the Citizens' Flag Honor Guard and it later became Citizens Flag Alliance. *1990s
In a letter to U.S. President Bill Clinton in May of 1999, the American Legion urged the immediate withdrawal of American troops from Operation Allied Force in Yugoslavia. The National Executive Committee of The American Legion met and adopted a resolution unanimously that stated, in part, that they would only support military operations if “Guidelines be established for the mission, including a clear exit strategy and “That there be support of the mission by the U.S. Congress and the American people”. **2000s
On August 30, 2005, Thomas P. Cadmus, National Commander, stated in an address to the Legion's National Convention that terrorism should be stopped by "any means necessary." *,In reaction to the Chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, Steve Buyer (R-Ind.), announced that he planned to eliminate the annual congressional hearings for Veterans Service Organizations that was established by Eisenhower. National Commander of the American Legion Thomas L. Bock had the following to say:
"I am extremely disappointed in Chairman Buyer's latest effort to ignore the Veterans Service Organizations. Eliminating annual hearings before a joint session of the Veterans Affairs Committees will lead to continued budgetary shortfalls for VA resulting in veterans being underserved." *
List of National Commanders
- Frank Irwin Joseph (probably pre World War II)
- Thomas P. Cadmus, 2 September 2004–25 August 2005
- Thomas L. Bock, 25 August 2005–present
External links
- American Legion web site
- Position on the Enola Gay exhibit
- Story of the American Legion by George Seay Wheat (1919)
- American Legion Post 295's support of the wounded at Bethesda and Walter Reed Hospitals
Further reading
- Richard Seelye Jones. A history of the American legion (1946)
- Thomas B. Littlewood. Soldiers Back Home: The American Legion in Illinois, 1919-1939 (2004)
- William Pencak. For God & Country: The American Legion, 1919-1941 (1989)
- Thomas A. Rumer. The American Legion: An Official History, 1919-1989 (1990)
Veterans' organizations | United States military veterans | Military veterans | 1919 establishments
"American Legion"