~ Rev. Robert J. Sweeney ~
The Rev. Robert J. Sweeney was elected National Chaplain of The American Legion on September 10, 1998, during the 80th National Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Sweeney, a Roman Catholic Priest, is a veteran of the Vietnam War who served in the U. S. Army. He has been a member of The American Legion since 1992. He is a member of American Legion Arthur Finnigen Post, No. 1443, near his home in Greenwood Lake, New York.
Father Sweeney joined The American Legion Goshen Post in 1992 serving as Chaplain, 1992-1994. He then transferred in 1995, to the Arthur Finnigan Post, No. 1443 serving as Chaplain, to the present. He served three year-long terms as American Legion Department of New York Chaplain: 1995-96, 1997-98, and 1998-99. He also has served as Orange County American Legion Chaplain from 1997 to 1998.
Father Sweeney is a native of Lawton, Oklahoma. Being born there on December 22, 1944. He graduated from Freeport, High School. He worked in radio and publishing before being drafted into the Army serving at Fort Dix, New Jersey, overseas in Germany and at Fort Lewis, Washington. He is an alumnus of three New York institutions of higher learning: Adelphi College, Hofstra University and St. Joseph’s Seminary. He was one of the first students to enter the new late vocation program at St. John Neumann Residence, then located on the campus of St. Joseph’s Seminary in Dunwoodie, Yonkers, New York, and was ordained a Priest of the Roman Catholic Faith in 1982.
An active member of the Goshen Volunteer Fire Department since 1994 he has been Chaplain in the New York City Fire Department. Serving retired or injured fire personnel residing in Orange County, New York.
He was asked what his most memorable Legion experience was; he replied, “Involvement on the Department level; to learn the working of The Legion, History, meaning and how to improve on the Post level.”
