In the next few weeks, we will discuss who the American Legion is, how and when it began, the history of the Legion, and what are they are currently doing through our national and local organizations.
The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana at the Indiana World War Memorial Plaza. It comprises state, U.S. territory, and overseas departments, in turn, made up of local posts. It currently has a membership of nearly 2,000,000 worldwide making it the largest wartime veterans service organization. There are more than 12,000 posts in communities throughout the United States. In addition to posts in every state, the American Legion has posts in District of Columbia, France, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. Our Blanchard post is the Bond-Holden Post 261 located at Veterans Hall, 103 S. Main St, Blanchard.
The American Legion all began on March 15, 1919, when 1,000 officers and men of the American Expeditionary Force convened in Paris, France for the first American Legion caucus. They adopt a tentative constitution that was confirmed and endorsed by a similar meeting in St. Louis, Missouri on May 8-10, 1919. Both the Paris Caucus and St. Louis Caucus each appointed a 17-member Executive Committee. These two national executive committees became the initial governing body of The American Legion, and their temporary headquarters was located in New York. Among the founding members were Theodore Roosevelt Jr, Alvin (Sergeant) York, and Roy Hoffman from Oklahoma.
Next week we will learn how The American Legion Emblem was created on May 9, 1919, and we’ll also find out who the names Bond-Holden are and how they became the honorary names of The American Legion Bond-Holden Post 261 in Blanchard.
