Category: Adjutant’s Corner

By ROSE L. THAYER | STARS AND STRIPES | November 18, 2023  The Department of Veterans Affairs is extending a pandemic-era program that helped financially-strapped veterans keep their homes after criticism that it wasn’t doing enough to prevent those with VA-backed loans from foreclosure.  The […]

By LINDA F. HERSEY | STARS AND STRIPES | November 21, 2023  Kenneth Landry was deployed in Kuwait as an air-traffic controller with Air Force special operations in 2014 when an ATV rollover knocked him unconscious and pinned him underneath the vehicle. Landry was pulled […]

National dues adjustment for 2025 membership year The American Legion NOV 14, 2023 The American Legion’s last national per-capita dues will increase from $18.50 to $23.50 for the 2025 membership year. The $5 increase will go into effect July 1, 2024. American Legion posts are […]

August 9, 2023 NAAG, Attorneys General Washington, D.C. – The National Association of Attorneys General issued a letter today on behalf of a bipartisan coalition of 44 attorneys general expressing support for the passage of legislative proposals included in Governing Unaccredited Representatives Defrauding (G.U.A.R.D.) Veterans Affairs (VA) Benefits Act. […]

Return criminal penalties for those who take advantage of disabled veterans or their families By Daniel J. Seehafer NOV 14, 2023 Dear American Legion Family Members and Friends, Few insults are more egregious than to take advantage of disabled veterans or their families, under false […]

Associated Press; Updated 9:51 PM EST, November 12, 2023  BERLIN (AP) — Five U.S. service people were killed when a military helicopter crashed over the eastern Mediterranean Sea during a training mission, U.S. officials said Sunday.  The military’s European Command said all five crew members on […]

Military Times; By Leo Shane III | Friday, Nov 10  The White House Friday launched a pair of veteran-focused campaigns to encourage broader use of federal benefits while also warn about scams targeting those support services.  The announcement, made one day ahead of Veterans Day commemorations, […]

By LINDA F. HERSEY | STARS AND STRIPES | November 6, 2023  WASHINGTON — The debilitating illnesses that some veterans have suffered from toxic exposure caused by burn pits and other sources continue “long after the guns of war have silenced,” Department of Veterans Affairs […]

By MATTHEW ADAMS | STARS AND STRIPES | September 28, 2023  WASHINGTON — Including unit leaders in more suicide prevention training and increasing mental health services are just two of the more than 100 recommendations that the Pentagon said Thursday will be implemented in the […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Legion today called on Congress to end its political standoff and prioritize legislative action to avert a government shutdown on September 30th. In its urgent call for action, The American Legion highlighted potential impacts a disruption to government funding may […]

Military Times; By Leo Shane III | Aug 23, 03:10 PM  The future of Veterans Affairs health care may not be in brick-and-mortar federal hospitals or private-sector clinics. A growing number of patients are headed into cyberspace instead. VA officials have seen a dramatic growth in […]

‘Atomic veterans’ overwhelmingly denied benefits for illnesses related to radiation exposure during service  NBC, Aug. 23, 2023, 10:04 AM EDT | By Melissa Chan  Thousands of veterans who say they were sickened by radiation exposure during their military service have been denied federal benefits, the Department […]

[From Gray & Associates, L.C.] The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) continues to grow. According to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Under Secretary of Health Dr. Elnahal, the VHA now has 400,740 employees, an historic high. The organization has “far surpassed” the goal of hiring 52,000 […]

COMMANDER’S MESSAGE Dear American Legion Family members and friends, It was two years ago when we were collectively dismayed at how swiftly the Taliban reasserted control over Afghanistan. Once the withdrawal of American troops gained momentum, we only knew it was a matter of time. […]

The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee met Wednesday afternoon to review the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) implementation of the Honoring Our PACT Act. That legislation, which greatly expands veterans’ access to care and benefits for health conditions related to toxic exposures during their military service, […]

26 Jun 2023 • Military.com • By Patricia Kime  The U.S. Supreme Court has decided to hear a case on the handling of Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits by the Department of Veterans Affairs — a proceeding that could provide additional education benefits for roughly 1.7 […]

20 Jun 2023 • Military.com • By Amanda Miller  Post-9/11 combat veterans who served between 2001 and 2013 have until Sept. 30 to enroll in Department of Veterans Affairs health care. The date will conclude a one-year “special enrollment period” provided by the PACT Act. […]

By PHILLIP WALTER WELLMAN • STARS AND STRIPES • June 8, 2023  Legislation drafted by a group of U.S. senators aims to alleviate the military’s ongoing woes in attracting new members by allowing recruiters greater access to high schools and colleges. Introduced Wednesday, the Military […]

June 9, 1921: Highly decorated World War I Army Col. Frederic W. Galbraith of Ohio is killed in an automobile accident in Indianapolis while serving as second national commander of The American Legion. A revered leader in the fight for veterans benefits and care, his […]

Military Times; By Blake Stillwell • Jun 5, 02:49 PM  Listen, there are a lot of benefits to military service. There are so many the military actually hires people to explain them all to you. But chances are good this information was in a handout packet […]

June 6, 1944: American Legion founding leader Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt Jr., 56, lands on Utah Beach in the first wave of the Allied D-Day invasion of World War II. His Higgins boat misses the landing area by approximately a quarter-mile, and Roosevelt, Jr., is […]

The tax bill has passed and electronic pulltab games will be decimated in exchange for a nominal tax reduction, audit changes and a cap on manufacturer revenue shares. We expect the revenue losses to be 100-150 million dollars. The Tribes pushed for a full rollback […]

By Vincent J. “Jim” Troiola, National Commander, May 31, 2023 Dear American Legion Family Members and Friends, During my travels, I’ve had the pleasure to meet face-to-face with men and women currently serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. These are not customary meet-and-greets with a simple […]

As you are all aware, electronic gaming rules have been changed by our state representatives. Why they did this is unexplainable and will eventually hurt our American Legion programs and post operations. A summary of the changes follows; SUMMARY OF 2023 LAWFUL GAMBLING STATUTE CHANGES […]

May 30, 1920: Paris Post 1 Commander Col. Francis Drake represents The American Legion to help oversee Memorial Day observances for fallen U.S military personnel buried in temporary cemeteries across Europe. May 30, 1921: Four unknown American soldiers of the Great War are exhumed from […]

By JUSTIN WM. MOYER • THE WASHINGTON POST • May 29, 2023  WASHINGTON — Thousands of Harley Davidson motorcycles revved up outside the Department of Defense’s headquarters. Excited children waved American flags at passing riders while the more timid among them plugged their ears to […]

Military Times: By Leo Shane III • May 22, 12:00 PM  Ahead of Memorial Day remembrances, Department of Veterans Affairs officials have added 300,000 new names to their online registry of deceased veterans and service members interred at national cemeteries across the country. The four-year-old Veterans […]

From the National Adjutant, Daniel S. Wheeler; You may recall part of our decision to invest in INDYCAR marketing was to amplify our message on one of the biggest stages in sports. The Indy 500 is one of the largest sporting events in the world […]

By BRIAN MCELHINEY • STARS AND STRIPES • May 20, 2023  Bill Lins stuck it out in the U.S. Marine Corps for as long as he could. Enlisting in 2004, Lins, 38, served in Iraq in 2006 and 2007. On that last deployment, his unit […]

15 May 2023 • Military.com • By Rebecca Kheel  Billions of dollars of veterans benefits could be imperiled if the U.S. defaults on its debts, though the full extent of the fallout is uncertain because of the unprecedented nature of a default. About $12 billion […]