Since 1919, the American Legion has met annually at a national convention. According to one historian, “early Legion conventions were rather wild affairs, and things got out of hand at times.”
During the 1924 convention in St. Paul, a group of Texas Legionnaires supposedly stopped an elderly couple driving across the High Bridge and had the couple get out of their old Model T. The Legionnaires then heaved the automobile over the bridge into the Mississippi.
After disposing of the old Model T, the Texans bought the couple a new one from a dealership in downtown St. Paul. “With the exception of isolated cases,” concluded the historian, “Legion pranks at conventions were harmless and good natured.”
