The following article, marking the 33rd birthday of the American Legion, was written by William Hagney, Indiana Post 141, and was heard over the local radio station Wednesday evening (March 21, 1952).
Thirty three years ago, in the aftermath of a World War at a time when our first great overseas Army was suffering post war homesickness, demobilization boredom, frustrated eagerness to get on with the business of making this world a better place in which to live, when fighting men with little to do but wait, with time on their hands to plan what that way of life might be, or plenty of time to plan just plain cussedness, or a rejection imposed authority a series of movements started, most of them small, all of them of consequence which culminated in a grand gathering of the rank and file officers and men of that Army finally swayed not by selfishness, not by viciousness, not by greed or jealousy but by the realization that the war itself had shown them the way.
War itself had thrust them into a comradeship - a mutual dependence, without which survival was impossible. The important plan, then, became a matter of how best to preserve that comradeship. This was a topic - not subtly initiated by a general staff seeking to perpetuate its glory but starting as a murmur from its ranks, it rose to a cry that must be recognized - a cry for a get together - a cry for a meeting where this thing could be talked over. A meeting in Paris - the city of light.
A meeting was frowned upon and distrusted by the General Staff - a meeting to which many went to subterfuge or guile, because that was the only way they could attend. Since permission to attend by military leave was difficult - very difficult - and at that meeting very nearly every unit of both that great Army was represented. It was a truly democratic meeting. Insignia of military rank was shed and many a private addressed a general by his first name (or what the Army assumes to be a first name) not knowing and not caring, whether the fat man with whom he disagreed violently was a brigadier or just a general gold bricker. All of this if you please, in wartime. A time of military discipline. But at that meeting a great thing happened - The American Legion was born. And it was clothed with a set of aims and principles which when they were both presented to all military men for approval got that approval instantly, wholeheartedly, both from the strong men who had cried for it and the nervous men who had distrusted it. The aims and principles were set forth in unmistakable language in the preamble to the constitution adopted. Here are the words:
For God and country we associate ourselves together for the following purposes.
To uphold and defend the constitution of the United States of America.
To maintain law and order.
To foster and perpetuate a one hundred percent Americanism.
To preserve the memories and incidents of our associations on the great wars.
To inculcate a sense of individual obligation to the community, state and nation.
To combat the autocracy of both the classes and the masses.
To make right the master of might.
To promote peace and good will on earth.
To safeguard and transmit to posterity the principles of justice, freedom and democracy.
To consecrate and sanctify our comradeship by our devotion to mutual helpfulness.
The American Legion was born in Paris, in March of nineteen nineteen the offspring of the soldiers of the American Expeditionary Force, the result of their spontaneous desire for continued comradeship through mutual helpfulness. It was nurtured at St. Louis, Missouri at an organizing caucus of men from every branch of service, from every state of the victorious union. This caucus was held in May, nineteen nineteen.
It was baptized in blood at Centralia in the state of Washington, on November eleventh, nineteen nineteen, when an Armistice parade was fired upon and four Legionnaires were shot down in cold blood by members of the Bolshevik industrial workers of the world, who even then knew that the Legion's doctrine of one hundred percent Americanism could not live at peace with Communism.
The Legion was chartered by a special Act of Congress, signed by President Woodrow Wilson on September sixteen nineteen nineteen.This, then, is your American Legion, it is thirty - three years old. It is now in the full prime of tested manhood. Has it sold its birthright, or has it lived up to the principles on which it was founded?
We maintain that we have and still do live up to these principles because we are still associated together with the worship of God as our motivating force.
That our record of upholding and defending the Constitution of the United States has never been questioned even by those who hate us.
That our record of maintaining law and order in the face of disaster, flood and earthquake, would of itself justify our organization if nothing else were to our credit.
That our record of fostering and perpetuating a one hundred percent Americanism is proven by the fact that the American Legion was the first great secular organization to condemn Communism and that the Legion's continued vigilance has been of noted value in exposing and discrediting that enemy of our Constitution.
Have we preserved the memories and incidents of our associations in the great wars? Well, in Legion bull sessions there has been a lot of romancing about who won the wars, but there is no question of our contribution to the maintenance of hospitals and other assistances to those who did win the wars and were not able to walk away from them. To say nothing of the material shrines erected and those maintained in our hearts for those who are only a memory.
We have inculcated a sense of individual obligation to the community, state and nation by the greatest program of Americanism of any organization we know, by our scholarships, our educational institutions for orphans and our ever promoted, but perpetually shunned, and thoroughly misunderstood enunciation of the principle of Universal Military Training.
We are happy that we have no monopoly of the fight for right against might but we like our record and intend to maintain it.
As for promoting peace and good will - it is evident that those who hate war most are those who have fought them. The Legion membership has always been solidly behind an unalterable program for the prevention of wars. We have maintained constant contacts with veteran organizations throughout the world and we believe that if we should ever slip on that one, our very capable women's auxiliaries can be depended upon to keep us in line.
The principles of justice, freedom and democracy? Yes, we have cherished them, and each in his own way has passed them on to sons, who have and will fight for them.
And have we consecrated our comradeship? And have we been mutually helpful - well, our critics say we have carried this to extremes. But in each of our posts, the position of service officer is the most dignified and respected, and the one to which the membership gives the greatest amount of cooperation.
As we read over this preamble, this statement of aims and principles - we can't help but feel a terrific respect for the men who wrote them. It is hard to realize that by and large they were young men. Men freshly released from the hate and bloodshed of a great conflict. Men who had every right to feel the power and arrogance of conquerors.Well they were men who had seen so much of evil in so short a time, that they were conscious of a great fear of power. Of the necessity for the establishment of right and justice over the awesome display of might which they had just witnessed. Men who realized that only by the grace of God were they still whole and alive. And so they were humble and earnest - earnestly dedicated to the principle that what they had just seen must be taught as a lesson to govern their lives and the lives of those with whom they would come in contact.
We are proud that we have one of these men in Indiana - our comrade Richard Watson - is one of those who long participated in that Paris conclave, and who still pursues the way of one of the most faithful Legionnaires we have ever known.
We take great pleasure in dedicating this program to comrade Watson who for thirty - three years has been an inspiration to American Legion Post number one forty one of Indiana, Pennsylvania.
