[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 28 (Tuesday, March 15, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 15, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
              THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE AMERICAN LEGION

                                 ______


                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 15, 1994

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, as many of our colleagues are well aware, 
our American Legion is celebrating its 75th anniversary this month.
  In the wake of the horror of World War I, the need was recognized for 
an organization which could effectively represent the interests of the 
American veterans who had sacrificed so much through those years of 
terror. World War I raised the curtain on a new type of warfare, so 
horrible and inhumane in its nature that mankind had to deal with 
problems in a post-war world without precedent.
  The need for adequate health care for the wounded, the need to assist 
the crippled, and the need to counsel those who were witness to the 
carnage required an organization that could articulate these challenges 
and translate them into positive action.
  In addition, our Nation was burdened in those post-war years with a 
crisis of spirit. Many Americans questioned the need to fight to 
preserve democracy in the first place, while many questioned the future 
of our way of life.
  The American Legion rapidly became one of the most respected 
organizations in our Nation because they rapidly answered these 
challenges: reminding our Government and our citizenry of the debt we 
owed to those who sacrificed on the battlefield while also keeping 
alive the ideals for which we fought.
  Much had been accomplished by the predecessor of the American Legion, 
the Grand Army of the Republic [GAR]. That organization of Civil War 
veterans brought about the first veterans hospitals in our Nation's 
history, as well as the first pension plans for veterans and assistance 
programs for widows and orphans.
  The GAR, however, after surviving the carnage of our Civil War, did 
not anticipate that we would ever go to war again. Accordingly, the 
organization had no provisions to admit veterans of subsequent 
conflicts.
  Accordingly, the American Legion, founded in the wake of World War I, 
was able to build upon the foundation laid by the GAR.
  In each of our subsequent conflicts--World War II, the Korean war, 
the Vietnam war, the Persian Gulf war--the American Legion was on hand, 
as an effective champion of our armed services while hostilities were 
in progress and as the premier spokesperson for veterans rights when 
the guns were stilled.
  Today, as we celebrate 75 years of progress, we salute the American 
Legion for a job well done, and look forward to working with this, the 
largest veteran's organization in the world.
  In many ways, the American Legion helped formulate the strong 
proveterans stance which I have taken since becoming a Member of 
Congress over 20 years ago. Our American Legion posts throughout our 
20th Congressional District of New York and throughout the Nation have 
been of great support and assistance as we have worked hard to maintain 
pension benefits for our veterans, to expand our system of excellent 
Veterans Administration hospitals, to provide health care and education 
for those who gave so much on the battlefield, to care for the 
dependents of those who gave their lives in our Nation's services, to 
advocate a full study of the effects of agent orange and the substances 
which impacted the health of our veterans, the long-sought creation and 
elevation of the Department of Veterans Affairs to a Cabinet level 
post--the fifth anniversary of which we celebrated earlier this year--
and the many other legislative initiatives in which so many of our 
colleagues joined in supporting. The American Legion was behind us on 
each and every one of them.
  Mr. Speaker, many of our colleagues in the Congress throughout the 
past 75 years have been members of the American Legion. The first was 
one of the primary founders of the Legion, the late Hamilton Fish, Sr., 
of New York. Colonel Fish, a genuine hero of World War I, helped 
cofound the Legion in 1919. Later that same year, he was elected to 
Congress in a special election and served continually until 1945. 
Throughout his lengthy career in Congress, he was a consistent advocate 
of the needs of our veterans and of the patriotism which made our 
Nation strong. It is fitting that the VA hospital in Castle Point, NY, 
was named in his memory, and it is fitting that we remember former 
Congressman Fish today.
  Mr. Speaker, throughout the next few weeks and months, American 
Legion posts throughout our Nation will be commemorating this 75th 
anniversary with appropriate festivities. I urge our colleagues to join 
in wishing the American Legion a happy birthday, and thanking our 
Legionnaires for all they have done to make our Nation a better one for 
our veterans and for all of us.

                          ____________________