The American Legion celebrates 103rd birthday March 15
The American Legion, Department of Maryland, District Six (Southern Maryland Region), also known as Dynamic 6. The district includes 15 posts located in Calvert, Charles, Prince George's, and St. Mary's Counties.
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One hundred and three years ago, The American Legion was founded in Paris, France, the "City of Lights," by a group of committed U.S. veterans of the Great War. It has been a shining light for communities around the world ever since.
In the months that followed the armistice of November 11, 1918, they had time to think about life after the war and what they might do… In support of their wounded comrades. In honor of the fallen. To help surviving spouses and orphans. To protect the democracy they pledged their lives to defend. And to chart a new course for future generations of Americans. These troops envisioned a different kind of veterans association. It would be like none before it, or any that would follow.
That's who The American Legion is—an organization of wartime veterans that understands the darkness of combat, while providing light to the communities and country that we love and pledge to defend.
The American Legion would be built on strengthening the nation—not serving themselves—through four primary pillars of volunteer work on behalf of: Veterans; Defense; Youth; and Americanism.
Of course, the organization made a high priority of compassionate care and treatment for disabled veterans returning to civilian life. Such care and treatment were desperately lacking in the United States at the time. But The American Legion would reach into many other layers of society, some of which puzzled the public. Why, for instance, does a veterans group operate a nationwide youth baseball program? A speech contest? A mock government for high school students? Why the emphasis on naturalization and citizenship for legal immigrants? And is it really a veteran's job to build city parks, install swimming pools, carve out hiking trails, form community bands, manage ambulance systems, rescue flood victims and lead Boy Scout units?
The American Legion would spend the next century firmly establishing that such purposes strengthen the nation.
To learn more about The American Legion Southern Maryland Southern District Six, our programs, or to get involved, visit www.mddistrictsix.org.