National Commander Uses Legion Legacy to Advance Legislative Agenda
Hollywood Post 43 2nd Vice Commander Michael Hjelmstad presents a donation check to American Legion National Commander Charles E. Schmidt for his fundraising project during Post 43's Walk for Veterans Dec. 11, 2016. (Photo by Jon Endow/The American Legion)
Weaving in The American Legion’s 2017 legislative priorities into a narrative of the organization’s 98-year history, Legion National Commander Charles E. Schmidt gave testimony before a joint session of the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs committees Wednesday morning.
“Nearly 117,000 Americans gave their lives to successfully liberate Europe. Among our ranks, they are never forgotten,” Schmidt said of World War I veterans. “The American Legion was born of this generation, which inspires us and our legislative agenda today just five weeks away from the 100th anniversary of U.S. entry into the war that was supposed to end all wars. But it didn’t …The American Legion’s legislative agenda, in a new era of global war, bears many resemblances to that of our first generation.”