American Legion
The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is an organization of U.S. veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It comprises state, U.S. territory, and overseas departments, in turn made up of local posts. It was established in March 1919 in Paris, France, by officers and men of the American Expeditionary Forces. It was subsequently chartered by the 66th U.S. Congress on September 16, 1919.
The Legion played the leading role in drafting and passing the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the "G.I. Bill". In addition to organizing commemorative events, members assist at Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics. It is active in issue-oriented U.S. politics. Its primary political activity is lobbying on behalf of veterans and service members, including for benefits such as pensions and the Veterans Health Administration.
History
19th century
The American Legion was established in Paris, France, on March 15 to 17, 1919, by a thousand commissioned officers and enlisted men, delegates from all the units of the American Expeditionary Forces to an organization caucus meeting, which adopted a tentative constitution and selected the name "American Legion".The aftermath of two American wars in the second half of the 19th century had seen the formation of several ex-soldiers' organizations. Former Union Army soldiers of the American Civil War of 1861–65 established a fraternal organization, the Grand Army of the Republic, while their Southern counterparts formed the United Confederate Veterans. Both organizations emerged as powerful political entities, with the GAR serving as a mainstay of the Republican Party, which controlled the presidency from the Civil War through William Howard Taft's administration except during Grover Cleveland's two terms in office.
In Southern politics, the UCV maintained an even more dominant position as a bulwark of the Democratic Party, which dominated there. The conclusion of the brief Spanish–American conflict of 1898 ushered in another soldiers' organization, the American Veterans of Foreign Service, known today as the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States.
20th century
With the end of World War I in November 1918, some American officers who had participated in the conflict began to think about creating a similar organization for the two million men who had been on European duty. The need for an organization for former members of the AEF was pressing and immediate. With the war at an end, hundreds of thousands of impatient draftees found themselves trapped in France and pining for home, certain only that untold weeks or months lay ahead of them before their return would be logistically possible. Morale plummeted. Cautionary voices were raised about an apparent correlation between disaffected and discharged troops and the Bolshevik uprisings in Russia, Finland, Germany, and Hungary.This situation was a particular matter of concern to Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt Jr., President Theodore Roosevelt's eldest son. One day in January 1919, he had a discussion at General Headquarters with the mobilized National Guard officer George A. White, a former newspaper editor at the Portland Oregonian. After long discussion, he suggested the immediate establishment of a new servicemen's organization including all AEF members as well as those soldiers who remained stateside as members of the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps during the war without having been shipped abroad. Roosevelt and White advocated ceaselessly for this proposal until they found sufficient support at headquarters to move forward with the plan. General John J. Pershing issued orders to a group of 20 non-career officers to report to the YMCA in Paris on February 15, 1919. Roosevelt had personally selected these men. They were joined by a number of regular Army officers Pershing selected.
The session of reserve and regular officers was instructed to provide a set of laws to curb the problem of declining morale. After three days, the officers presented a series of proposals, including eliminating restrictive regulations, organizing additional athletic and recreational events, and expanding leave time and entertainment programs. At the end of the first day, the officers retired to the Inter-Allied Officers Club, a converted home across the street from the YMCA building. There, Roosevelt told them of his proposal for a new veterans' society. Most of those present were rapidly won to Roosevelt's plan. The officers decided to make all their actions provisional until an elected convention of delegates could convene and did not predetermine a program for the unnamed veterans organization. Instead, they chose to expand their number with a large preliminary meeting, to consist of an equal number of elected delegates to represent both enlisted men and commissioned officers.
A provisional executive committee of four men emerged from the February 15 "Roosevelt dinner": Roosevelt in the first place, who was to return to the U.S. and obtain his military discharge when able, and then to gather assistants and promote the idea of the new veterans' organization among demobilized troops there; White, who was to travel to France touring the AEF camps and explaining the idea; veteran wartime administrator Eric Fisher Wood, who was to establish a central office and maintain contact with the various combat divisions and headquarters staffs, as well as publicize activities to the press; and former Ohio Congressman Ralph D. Cole.
Preparations for a convention in Paris began apace. Wood prepared a convention call and "invitations" were distributed to about 2,000 officers and enlisted men and publicized in the March 14, 1919 issue of Stars and Stripes. The convention call expressed the desire to form "one permanent nation-wide organization...composed of all parties, all creeds, and all ranks who wish to perpetuate the relationships formed while in military service." In addition to the personal invitations distributed, the published announcement indicated that "any officer or enlisted man not invited who is in Paris at the time of the meeting is invited to be present and to have a voice in the meeting." The conclave was slated to begin on March 15.
The site of Ferdinand Branstetter Post No. 1 is a vacant lot in Van Tassell, Wyoming, where the first American Legion post in the U.S. was established in 1919. Branstetter was a Van Tassell resident who died in World War I. The structure housing the post has since been demolished. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969. In 1969, it was hoped that an interpretative sign would be put up, and also possibly that a restored post building would be constructed.
The first post of the Legion, General John Joseph Pershing Post Number 1 in Washington, DC, was organized on March 7, 1919, and obtained the first charter issued to any Legion post on May 19, 1919. The St. Louis caucus that year decided that Legion posts should not be named after living persons, and the first post changed its name to George Washington Post 1. The post completed the constitution and made plans for a permanent organization. It set up temporary headquarters in New York City and began its relief, employment, and Americanism programs.
On May 20, 1919, Colonel Ernest Lester Jones received a petition from 20 of the enlisted women of the U.S. Naval Reserve Force for a charter to organize a post to be known as "Betsy Ross Post No. l", composed entirely of Yeomen of the U.S. Navy. In October of that year, the post changed its name to U.S.S. Jacob Jones, which commemorated the members' Navy heritage.
Congress granted The American Legion a national charter in September 1919.
The American Legion chartered Paris Post No. 1 on December 13, 1919. It was the first overseas post to be chartered and has been in continuous existence since then.
China Post 1, formed in 1919, one year after the "great war" and chartered by The American Legion on April 20, 1920, was originally named the General Frederick Townsend Ward Post No. 1, China. It is the only Post nominally headquartered in a Communist country, and has been operating in exile since 1948—presently in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The 21st century, particularly the period from 2012 to 2021, was a pivotal time for the storied Post.
Joseph “Joe” Gentile distinguished himself by exceptional initiative, heritage diplomacy, and administrative leadership on behalf of Generals Ward, Chennault & Lt. Helseth China Post 1, contributing significantly to the revitalization of the post’s global presence and the restoration of its historical ties to the People’s Republic of China. In the United States, Gentile initiated a series of commemorative planning efforts in advance of the American Legion centennial, conceiving the idea for commissioned plaques and artwork honoring the post’s 1919 origin in Shanghai and its wartime Flying Tigers lineage. This concept was later adopted at the post level and publicly confirmed in national American Legion reporting, forming the basis for centennial outreach to Moody Air Force Base, the Chennault Aviation and Military Museum, and other aviation heritage institutions. He further represented the post on documented heritage engagements with the United States Air Force Academy, the 23rd Wing, and other active-duty audiences, strengthening understanding of China Post 1’s unique WWII and Cold War legacy.
Concurrently, Gentile, in keeping with the post’s old Shanghai “soldier of fortune” ethos of operating independently and abroad, executed a sustained heritage and restoration effort in the People’s Republic of China. Gentile organized the recovery, clearing, and reconditioning of the Ward Monument and surrounding pathway, restoring the site to presentable condition for the first time in decades. This action directly contributed to renewed local cultural interest and subsequent designation of the monument as a national historic site, as recorded in China Post 1 internal reporting. In Shanghai, Gentile arranged photographic documentation of Chennault’s former post-war offices and related foreign concessions locations, supplying archival material now used in China Post 1’s historical presentations. In parallel with these overseas accomplishments, Mr. Gentile assumed the duties of Post Adjutant, relocating the post’s administrative office to Austin, Texas, standardizing membership processing, consolidating dues collections, and implementing sustained communication channels for the post’s worldwide membership base. His “From the Adjutant” administrative columns documented measurable increases in renewals, merchandise funding, and international heritage project support during the period. Under his tenure, the commemorative planning effort matured into “Operation Phoenix,” a mission subsequently characterized by the post as an attempt to “resurrect the Post’s presence in China from the proverbial ashes.” The combined effect of these activities materially strengthened China Post 1’s organizational sustainability, restored historical linkages in both the United States and China, and preserved a rare chapter of Sino-American military heritage for future generations.