From the front page of the Nashua Telegraph, Monday, 25 June 1973.
MANCHESTER - A Nashua man, John P. Bisset of 31 Pemberton Road, was elected department commander of the N.H. American Legion Saturday for 1973-74 at the 55th Department Convention.
Bisset, a Korean War Navy veteran, is past commander of District 2 and James E. Coffey Post 3 of Nashua. He defeated Frank H. Bragg Jr. of Concord by better than 3-1 margin.
He was department vice commander in 1969-70, and has held various offices within both the Coffey Post and the district. He has served as department oratorical contest chairman for three years and membership chairman and community service chairman.
As membership chairman, Bisset brought the organization to within striking distance of a 5-year all-time high before the year's end.
He is married to the former Madeleine Blanchett and is the father of a girl, Lee Ann, and a boy, John Jr.
Bisset succeeds Retired Department Commander Michael A. LaRocca of Newmarket.
Elected as vice commanders were Russell F. Brooks of Derry, Earl W. Martell of Laconia, Harold Harris of Deerfield and Frank Redden of Dover.
Stanley Shea of Wilton was re-elected as alternate National Executive Committeeman, and Maurice J. Levesque of Hudson was one of the delegates at large selected for the National Convention to be held in Hawaii in August.
University of New Hampshire president Dr. Thomas Bonner, was the main speaker Saturday in the Masonic Temple. A few hours before his talk, the legionnaires had condemned the board of trustees at UNH for giving recognition to so-called "gay group" on the campus.
Bonner, in his talk at the dinner being boycotted by several Legion members, attempted to calm the group by listing things of the past which seemed concerting and now are trivial.
The delegates also recommended a minimum sentence of 20 years for anyone caught illegally selling drugs for the first offense. They also instructed state officers to send a resolution to members of the N.H. Congressional delegation and President Nixon demanding the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard be maintained in its present status.
Merrimack Memorial Post 98 won the Department Membership Trophy in towns of 4,000 or more population. The group selected Claremont as the site of the 1974 convention.
The Coffey Post band placed second in the band competition.
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