The Story of the American Legion: The Birth of the Legion

by George Seay Wheat

(a) Lt. Col. Theodore Roosevelt, of the First Division; Col. Henry D. Lindsley, formerly Mayor of Dallas, Texas; Sgt. "Jack" Sullivan, of Seattle; Lt. Col. Franklin D'Olier, of Philadelphia; Ex-Senator Luke Lea, of Tennessee; Lt. Col. Frederick Huedekoper, of Washington, D.C.; Major Redmond C. Stewart, of Baltimore; Wagoner Dale Shaw, of Iowa; Lt. Col. George A. White, of Oregon; "Bill" Donovan, of the "Fighting 69th"; Major Thomas R. Gowenlock, of Illinois; Sgt. Alvin C. York, of Tennessee; Colonel John Price Jackson, of the S.O.S.; Lt. Col. "Jack" Greenway, of Arizona; Sgt. Roy C. Haines, of Maine; George Edward Buxton, of Rhode Island; Eric Fisher Wood, of Pennsylvania; Chaplain John W. Inzer, of Alabama; Lt. Col. David M. Goodrich, of Akron; Chief Petty Officer B.J. Goldberg, of Chicago; "Tom" Miller, of Delaware; Major Alex. Laughlin, Jr., of Pittsburgh; Major Henry Leonard, of the Marine Corps; Dwight J. Davis, of the 35th Division; Corporal Charles S. Pew, of Montana; General William G. Price, of the 28th Division; Bishop Charles S. Brent, Senior Chaplain of the A.E.F.; General O'Ryan, of the 27th Division; Stewart Edward White, of California; Private Jesus M. Baca, of New Mexico; General Charles H. Cole, of the 26th Division; Sgt. E.L. Malsbary, of Nevada; Lt. Samuel Gompers, Jr., of New York; Col. Henry L. Stimpson, Ex-Secretary of War; Lt. Col. Charles W. Whittlesey, Commander of the "Lost Battalion"; Leroy Hoffman, of Oklahoma; Lt. Col. A. Piatt Andrew, of the American Ambulance in France; General Harvey J. Moss, of the State of Washington; John MacVicar, Mayor of Des Moines before the War; Sgt. George H.H. Pratt, of New Orleans; Col. F.C. Galbraith, of Cincinnati; Corporal Joseph H. Fountain, of Vermont; Devereux Milburn, of the 78th Division; Lt. Col. Wilbur Smith, of the 89th Division; Sgt. Theodore Myers, of Pennsylvania; Col. Bennett C. Clark, son of Champ Clark; Robert Bacon, Ex-Secretary of State.

(12) What did the Legion, do at its St. Louis caucus?

(a) It demanded investigation of the pardon and subsequent honorable discharge by the War Department of convicted conscientious objectors.

(b) It condemned the action of the I.W.Ws., the Anarchists, and the International Socialists.

(c) It protested against certain nefarious business concerns who are employing men in uniform to peddle their wares.

(d) It recommended that Congress should take steps to reclaim arid, swamp and cut over timber lands and give the work of doing this to ex-service men, and give the land to them when it had been made available for farming purposes.

(e) It demanded of Congress the same disability pay for men of the National Guard and National Army as now pertains to those in the Regular establishment.

(f) It initiated a campaign to secure to service men their rights and privileges under the War Risk Insurance Act.

(g) It demanded that Congress should deport to their own countries those aliens who refused to join the colors at the outbreak of the war, and pleaded their citizenship in other countries to escape the draft.

(h) It undertook to see that disabled soldiers, sailors and marines should be brought into contact with the Rehabilitation Department of the Government, which department helps them to learn and gain lucrative occupations.