The American Legion was chartered by Congress in 1919 as a patriotic, mutual-help, war-time veterans organization. A community-service organization which now numbers nearly 3 million members -- men and women -- in nearly 15,000 American Legion Posts worldwide. These Posts are organized into 55 Departments -- one each for the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, France, Mexico, and the Philippines.
The American Legion's
national
headquarters is in Indianapolis, Indiana, with additional offices in
Washington,
DC. In addition to thousands of volunteers serving in leadership and
program
implementation capacities in local communities to the Legion's standing
national commissions and committees, the national organization has a
regular
full-time staff of about 300 employees.
Membership eligibility
in The American Legion is based on honorable service with the U.S.
Armed
Forces between --
April 6, 1917 and November
11, 1918 (World War I)
December 7, 1941 and
December
31, 1946 (World War II)
June 25, 1950 and January
31, 1955 (Korean War)
February 28, 1961 and May
7, 1975 (Vietnam War)
August 24, 1982 and July
31, 1984 (Lebanon/Grenada)
December 20, 1989 and
January
31, 1990 (Panama)
*August 2, 1990 to
today
(Persian Gulf)
*Because eligibility
dates
remain open, all members of the U.S. Armed Forces are eligible to join
The American Legion at this time, until the date of the end of
hostilities
as determined by the government of the United States.
THE AMERICAN LEGION
12 South 11th Street
Fernandina Beach, Florida
32034
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