The 1st District Fall Conference this past weekend was hosted by Waterford Post 20.
Commander Nathan Bond talked again about the 72,400 veterans in the 1st District that are not members of The American Legion, and our goal as a district is to get just 5233 of those people to renew / join this membership year, the “most important veterans organization that ever existed” The Commander stressed that the numbers are not important, it’s the people that they represent that are the reason that The American Legion exists. During his talk, he mentioned some of The American Legion’s accomplishments including some from this list…
Pushed for a Federal Veterans Bureau that became the forerunner of today’s Department of Veterans Affairs
Began sponsoring Boy Scout troops
Drafted the first flag code in 1923
At the forefront of efforts to gain a constitutional amendment to protect the Flag from physical desecration
Drafted the original GI Bill of Rights
Championed the GI Bill of the 21st century
Established a youth baseball program in 1925 where 65 percent of professional baseball players today got their start
Created Boys State and Boys Nation
Fosters a greater understanding of the U. S. Constitution through a High School Oratorical Scholarship Program
Spoke out as early as 1966 about the fate of American POWs and MIAs in Vietnam
Was the largest single financial contributor to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington
Raised over 4.5 million dollars for the World War II Memorial
Took the federal government to court for its failure to pursue the effects of agent orange on Vietnam Veterans
Formed the “Family Support Network” to assist families of service men and women
Formed a special task force to assist Persian Gulf Veterans and their families for undiagnosed illnesses
Presented Congress with a dramatic new plan to reform and revitalize the VA health care system by calling for the VA to accept Medicare and opening it up to all veterans
Offers free advice and representation on VA benefits and claims
Fought for veterans benefits; a strong military; moral upbringing of this nation’s youth; a strong national defense; Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation; children and youth Americanism
One important announcement was the new First District webpage, https://1dwilegion.org. Commander Bond’s wishes that department business have a home base on the internet have resulted In the website where you are probably reading this article. In the coming days, all reports and documents will be available here. Keep an eye on the “Document Repository” menu.
The facility picked by Post 20 was well suited to the conference, and the food and amenities were top notch. Thanks to Post 20 Commander James Cairo, IT Support and Social Media Officer, B. Shane Morris, and Post 20 Membership for all they did to make the conference a success.
Photographs of the event can be found under the Media menu.