Sunday, July 30, 2017

The Birth of the Legion by George Seay Wheat, Chapter VI, (post #7)

CHAPTER VI

THE LEGION AND THE BOLSHEVIKI

The second session of the caucus began at half past two o'clock Friday afternoon. Like its predecessor it started with a bang. Nominations were made for the third vice-chairman who was to be selected from the marine corps. The first nomination was a wounded man, at the time in the Walter Reed Hospital at Washington and who had won the Distinguished Service Cross at Château-Thierry. Then came the name of Sergeant Woolley of Utah, quickly followed by the name of P.C. Calhoun of Connecticut, put up by Mr. Black of Louisiana; the name of Major Leonard of the District of Columbia also was put in nomination and then the slate was closed.
True to the spirit of the previous meeting the caucus was soon in an uproar of applause for each of the four candidates, three of whom were marched to the stage. Calhoun was elected, with the result that his ardent brother delegates from Connecticut treated him like a football hero by[Pg 82] placing him on their shoulders and performing a snake dance. Marines are no more garrulous than sailor men, for Calhoun's speech of acceptance was just about as long as Humphrey's. While Calhoun was being bombed by flashlight cameras Mr. Smoot of Utah moved that a vote of thanks should be tendered to Colonel Roosevelt and other Legion members who had been active in the preliminary work which insured the success of the caucus and this was seconded by Major Wickersham of New York. One of the most rousing ayes of the entire caucus carried the motion.
Cries of "speech" brought Colonel Roosevelt before the footlights. His remarks were just about as long as Humphrey's and Calhoun's. To be specific he said: "Gentlemen, it is going to be a short speech because I think we have got a lot of business to do. Thank you."
Just about this time the committee reports began to come in, the first of which, that of the Credential Committee, brought the question of Bolshevism to the floor of the caucus. The report read as follows:
S.H. Curtin, the representative of the Soldiers and Sailors Council of Seattle, pending the action of the Credential Committee, had been accorded a vote at the previous session on all questions that came up before it. The fact that Colonel Wood, the Secretary, took this action was in line with the general spirit of fair play, which was the keynote of the caucus. The Credential Committee's report elicited shouts of approval. Chairman Lindsley after bringing the house to order again said:
"I understand that the delegate from the Soldiers and Sailors Council is here and asks to be heard. Gentlemen, the members of the Committee, I assume, had full knowledge of facts which warranted that report, but there are men here who have not that knowledge. Shall we hear him?"
This statement aroused mixed emotions but Mr. Curtin came to the platform. Word having spread through the theater that he represented the "real Bolshevik outfit" in Seattle, a great many of the delegates began to hoot, jeer, and make cat calls.
"Give the man a hearing," echoed Colonel Roosevelt, who sat with the New York delegation. "Yes, give him a hearing." shouted the majority of the delegates and when the chair had procured order, Curtin made his plea.
"I wish to say, by way of introduction, that though I come from the State of Washington, I am not a member of the Washington Delegation," he said, "I say that out of deference to the members from that State for the reason that I wish to prejudice nobody here against the Washington Delegation. I am not an I.W.W. I never have been and I never intend to be I never have shown any Bolshevik tendency and I defy any man present to prove to the contrary. If you've got proof that Sherman H. Curtin ever was an I.W.W. or made a Bolshevik statement, say so?" He paused here but none answered him to the contrary
"It is true that the organization which I represent has had in the past some I.W.W.'s, and it is true that there are some I.W.W.'s in it now," he continued; "but I am in that organization for the purpose of throwing those I.W.W.'s out. I got in there for the purpose of kicking them out and I want your help."
Here he was interrupted by applause.
"I, personally, was the man who rewrote the constitution of the Soldiers and Sailors Council. It was written wrong when I got in there so I changed it. I want you men to stand behind me and help me make this fight. My organization did not give me permission to come here and join this, just as I presume some of your organizations did not give you permission, for the reason that they did not know what this was going to be; but I can see from the spirit that this organization has, that so far, it is on the right path and I am with it and I want you with me.
"I am already only and wholly for the purpose of doing what good we can for the elimination of I. W.W.'s and Bolsheviki. If you are against that, I am with you and if you are with me, I am with you.
"With your permission," he said to the chairman, "I would like to ask the gentleman one question." "Sir," turning to Curtin, "is it or is it not true that you re-wrote the constitution now in effect for your organization, and is it not true that it is so worded that American Army and Naval officers or former army and navy and marine officers of the United States are not eligible? Is that true?"
"I will answer that question and I will answer it in a fair way," Mr. Curtin replied.
"Say yes or no. Is it true?" Mr. Pratt demanded.
"Yes," shouted the crowd. "Say yes or no. Is it true?"
Then pandemonium broke loose in the meeting. The cat calls and boos were renewed. "Put him out!" "Put him out!" "Shut him up!" the crowd demanded. And here I want to pause a moment to say that the enlisted men present gave a mighty concrete sign of the approval of their officers by this denunciation of the constitution of Curtin's outfit.
At this juncture Mr. Simon, of the Washington delegation, said that in all fairness to Sergeant Curtin he wanted to say that during the recent demonstration of Bolshevism in Seattle, Curtin commanded a machine gun company on the side of right and law and order.
"I do not speak for his organization," Simon said, "but I speak for a clique in it, headed by Sergeant Curtin, who went into that organization to clean it up, to make it a fair and square one hundred per cent. American organization." The applause of Simon's remarks had scarcely died down when General Moss succeeded in gaining the floor.
"I want to say to the members of this delegation," he said, "that I led the fight against the soldiers' and sailors' organization before the Credential Committee, and I want to say to you gentlemen that we didn't lead a fight personally against this man, but against his organization.' We know the outfit in our country and we do not want that organization in unless the Americans in it come in as individuals. I want to say that we are to be organized here on a basis of one hundred per cent, true Americanism.
"But we can lick a majority," Curtin shouted back. "I want Captain McDonald who had charge of the Intelligence Department at Camp Lewis to say a word on this subject. He knows the history of my organization and I would like to have him give it to you." But if Curtin counted on McDonald to help him he reckoned without his host.
Captain McDonald rose and speaking with great deliberation said:
"I have been an American soldier for thirty years. I was a regular telegraph officer at the time of the Bolshevik trouble. I established stations at Seattle and Camp Lewis and this man represents the real element that we are all working against. Personally he is all right but he is backing that organization because he wants to represent it. If he desires to be admitted into the Legion let him get loose from that outfit and come in by himself."
Captain McDonald's statement was greeted with enthusiasm.
"Are you ready for the question?" demanded the chairman.
The caucus certainly was.
"Those favoring the adoption of the credentials report vote aye," he cried.
That aye answered the question of what the American soldier thinks of Bolshevism or anything tainted with it. That aye answered the lying statement that our troops abroad had been inoculated with the germ of the world's greatest mental madness.
That aye marked the distinction between a grouch caused by a cootie-lined bunk and a desire to place a bomb under the Capitol at Washington.
I have intimated that the chief aim of each delegate was to see that no one "put anything over" at this caucus. I think that the only other determination which might rival that in intensity was most apparent at the mention of anything that pertained to or bordered on Bolshevism. This incident of ousting Curtin's organization was not the only manifestation of it by any means, although it was perhaps the most striking on the floor of the caucus. But, outside the caucus, in the hotel lobbies, and in the various committee rooms, whenever the subject came up these soldier and sailor men, in almost every instance, got mad—damn mad.
"The trouble with these people who talk Bolshevism is that they don't know anything about our country," I heard one of them say.
This last remark brought forth a laugh, and though it was whimsically made it illuminated the matter under discussion very well, I thought. In fact, the whole conversation made clear to me one of the fundamental missions the Legion must perform.
The seeds of Americanism which Legion members sow to-day will be reaped, not only to-day but in the generations of to-morrow. The Soldiers and Sailors Council, Seattle, was thrown out and its representative knew why. But, if Jack Sullivan and his red, white, and blue colleagues in the State of Washington preach in the future what they did at this caucus, the children of those northwestern Bolsheviki will not only salute the Stars and Stripes, but will know why they do so. They will know what their fathers don't—that the constitution means Americanism and that Americanism means "life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness."
In most conventions the reports of committees are invariably adopted. There are many reasons [Pg 91]for this, the particular one being the theory that when a set of men are placed on a task they will study the situation in all its angles, in all its ramifications, in all its different phases and that its report should therefore be adopted because of this expert thought and study on the matters under consideration. I say that most conventions do this. Once as a newspaper man, I attended an undertakers' convention. It always did so. And at another time I attended a manufacturers' gathering where this procedure was invariably followed out. But how about at St. Louis? Not on your life! The delegates of the American Legion were neither like undertakers nor manufacturers nor like any-other business men that I ever saw during ten years on a Metropolitan newspaper. The new American doesn't do business that way.
Mr. Shank of Ohio, thought that the American Legion did not convey a sufficient meaning to the average civilians. "The American Legion might be an organization of street cleaners, it doesn't signify soldiers. It isn't comprehensive enough," he said. Mr. Larry of Florida countered with, "Go ahead and call it American Legion, we will soon show them what it means."
Mr. Walsh of Pennsylvania, suggested that the A.E.F. knew what it was doing when they called it the American Legion. "Let us honor them and respect them by calling it the American Legion," he urged. Colonel E. Lester Jones, of Washington, stated the name had been considered by the committee most carefully and—

But why go into all the arguments. The motion to call it the American Legion was carried amid cheering and as such the name will go down into the history of things well done for America.
Posted by at

Saturday, July 29, 2017

The Birth of the Legion by George Seay Wheat, Chapter V, (post #6)

CHAPTER V

THE ST. LOUIS CAUCUS, MAY 8, 9, AND 10

All during the morning of May 8th that delegation was constantly getting together with this delegation; this leader conferring with that one; was this question going to come up, and what would be done if that question was tabled? Everybody interested, everybody excited, everybody waiting to see the other fellow's hand at the show-down, which was scheduled for the Shubert-Jefferson Theater at half-past two o'clock in the afternoon. Of course, everybody had found out the previous evening that every card in the pack was red, white, and blue, and that, from the very beginning of the game, an attempt had been made to keep the knaves out. As a matter of fact, they'd never been in, but the new Bills who made up the delegations to this caucus were going to look everybody over mighty carefully before any serious playing was done.
A flashlight photograph of the gathering was made, but this caucus was not one that could be pictured by the camera at all accurately. The outstanding feature of this great get together was the spirit of the men, and that no camera could catch.
Three large wooden tiers of seats, the kind the circus has under canvas, were built in a sort of semicircular fashion around the large stage. The New York delegation occupied one of these tiers; the Ohioans another, while the third was built for distinguished guests. If any distinguished guests came they were entirely put out of the limelight by the audience, for this was one show which was enacted before the footlights rather than behind them, and, with one or two exceptions the star performing took place where the spectators usually sit. In fact, the only spectators that I saw were the newspaper men, seated at tables within the corral formed by the tiers. All of them had been in the army or navy or had seen the big show abroad as war correspondents.
"Young Teddy," as they called him, was manifestly surprised at the ovation and tried repeatedly to get the crowd quiet. He wanted to be pleasant and yet he wanted order and so between knocks with his gavel he smiled. And a very engaging smile it was, too.
"Gentlemen," he pleaded. "Gentlemen, a little order." Finally there was comparative quiet. "Now let's proceed to the business of the meeting. The floor is open for nominations for permanent chairman of this caucus."
"In behalf of the State of Washington and representing the men of the rank and file of the Pacific Northwest, it gives me pleasure at this time to place for your consideration the name of a sterling patriot," he shouted. "The man I am going to place in nomination proved himself to be a one hundred per cent. true blooded American when his country's honor was assailed. He was among the first who placed himself in the front-line trenches, he was wounded twice, he was ready and willing to make the supreme sacrifice in order that this world might be made safe for democracy. I deem it an honor and a privilege, and the Pacific Northwest deems it an honor and a privilege to place in nomination the worthy son of a worthy sire—Theodore Roosevelt."
The crowd seemed to know all along who Jack meant and it held its enthusiasm in tether as best it could. But when Sullivan got to the word Theodore, the Roosevelt was drowned out in the mightiest cheer that is possible for eight or nine hundred throats to utter. The second to the motion, made by Colonel Luke Lea of Tennessee, wasn't heard at all. This time it took Colonel Roosevelt more than two minutes to get order.
But the "gang wouldn't hear to it." Somebody raised the old cry:
"We want Teddy!" "We want Teddy!" "We want Teddy!" they chanted in unison. Bedlam broke loose at that. Men stood on their seats and waved their hats and handkerchiefs; some took their collars and neckties off; some wept, some cursed for sheer joy and others—I believe that when Gabriel blows his horn and all the dead arise that some of the men who attended that caucus will try to make a speech! These speeches were going on four and five at a time during the entire hullabaloo. It didn't seem to matter in the least to the speakers that they weren't being heard. They couldn't hear themselves. They added a little to the noise and that satisfied the crowd and seemed to satisfy them.
"Please, please let me talk," pleaded Colonel Roosevelt. He finally got his plea over by means of the sign language.
The din started again.
"No, no, gentlemen," shouted the Colonel. "I want to withdraw. It is my earnest wish. It is my absolute determination."
But the caucus seemed equally determined. "We want Teddy!" "We're going to have Teddy!" "You got this thing going, you ought to run it." Colonel Roosevelt paced up and down the stage, trying his best to silence them. Then, during the din, one by one some of his oldest friends went to him and begged him to accede to the crowd's wish. "Take it Ted," they urged. "Take it." That underslung jaw of the young Colonel's became rigid.
"I won't do it. I can't do it," he answered.
Then someone managed to make a motion that the nomination of Colonel Roosevelt be made unanimous. It was seconded and made extremely unanimous.
Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.
Group on the Stage at St. Louis Caucus
"[Pg 61]Then, gentlemen, I accept and I resign," Colonel Roosevelt said. "I want quiet for a moment here on this situation. This is something that I have thought about and have given my most earnest consideration. I am positive I am right on it. We must not have creep into this situation, in which we all believe from the bottom of our hearts, the slightest suspicion in the country at large. I don't think there is any suspicion among us that anyone is trying to use it for his personal advancement. But it is absolutely essential that this spirit be proven. I am going to stick by this from the beginning down to the very end because, in my opinion, we have got to create to-day the impression all over the country on which this organization will carry on and serve a great purpose for years to come."
Again there were outbursts of applause for the Colonel. "We want Teddy!" "We want Teddy!" the crowd cried again and again. Men ran to the stage from the orchestra seats and even from the second balcony.
"Take it, Colonel. You ought to take it," they urged.
What the Colonel answered couldn't be heard but the jaw was working and the head was shaking vigorously.
"You oughtn't to take it, Colonel," one of them whispered. "If you don't, it will give the lie to those who are saying the Legion is being conducted for your special political benefit."
"I haven't the slightest intention of taking it," he answered back.
He didn't take it and he nailed the lie that the Legion was started to further his own selfish ends.
On motion of Colonel E. Lester Jones of the District of Columbia the nominations were reopened again.
Sergeant Haines of Maine put up the name of Colonel Henry D. Lindsley, a banker of Dallas, Texas, and a prominent Southern Democrat, for permanent chairman. Think of it! A man from Maine nominating a Southern Democrat! One of the Ohio delegation seconded the nomination. Think of that too! Colonel Claud Birkhead of San Antonio, Texas, leader of the Texas delegation "thirded" the nomination. He told Colonel Lindsley's record. The Colonel had been Mayor of his home city, and during the war had served his country so well in France that he had been awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. He and Major Willard Straight, now dead, had started the War Risk Insurance Bureau abroad and, at the time of the caucus, Colonel Lindsley was the head [Pg 63]of the Bureau under the Treasury Department in Washington.
Minutes of a meeting usually are dry but here I am going to quote directly from them because they tell the story in the most vivid way. Fancy between the lines, please, dozens of cheers, a couple of rebel yells, a great deal of talking and shouting for "T.R.!" "T.R.!" and a Babelous babble that ebbed or flowed according to the strength Colonel Roosevelt used in wielding his gavel.
Colonel Jones (of Washington, D.C.): "Mr. Chairman, I personally feel, and I think I voice the unanimous sentiment of this organization, that your withdrawal is a mistake. We are not only sincere, but we are telling you what is in the bottom of our hearts. We are weighing also the sincerity which you have expressed, and in deference to your wishes, which I know have not arisen spontaneously but which you have talked about for some time, regarding the chairmanship of this committee, I think we should not embarrass you further. I have one in mind who I feel is going to be a man who will do credit to this organization—"
The Chairman: "Gentlemen, can't you see how it is? I can't possibly change my convictions. I can't go back on what I have told you without everybody, who doesn't understand the situation here, feeling that I have just come out here to make a grandstand play. I am right. I am absolutely sincere and right."
A motion was made that Colonel Theodore Roosevelt temporarily yield the chair to Colonel Bennett Clark.
Colonel Bennett Clark: "It is very evident what the desire of this convention is. I know that Colonel Lindsley of Texas was only put in nomination in response to the express wishes and repeated determination of Colonel Roosevelt. I think that that explanation should be made in justice to Colonel Lindsley. I think that Colonel Roosevelt should take this chairmanship or if he doesn't want to take it he should be made to take it. (Applause.) The chair will recognize a motion to that effect."
Captain Boyce (of New York shouting to a yelling audience): "What is the use of our acting like a lot of kids? Just one minute; only one man can talk at a time and get anywhere. Colonel Roosevelt will not take it."
Cries of approval from the audience and a request for the question.
Colonel Bennett Clark: "On that the chair will take the responsibility of ordering a roll call. (Applause.) The Secretary will call the roll."
Secretary Wood: "The motion is that Colonel Roosevelt be nominated by acclamation. The chairman has directed me to call the roll by States. Alabama—"
A call for a point of order.
Delegate: "After nominations have been made and closed a roll call cannot be taken."
Colonel Clark: "The chair was fully aware that he was proceeding outside of parliamentary law because it was the unanimous wish of the convention."
Mr. Sullivan: "I move that a roll call be made on the original nominations."
Colonel Clark: "Colonel Roosevelt has expressed to me his absolute desire that that not be done. He refuses to enter into a contest with Colonel Lindsley in any way."
Colonel Clark: "The chair is informed that while he was on the way up here a motion was carried to reopen nominations after the resignation of Colonel Roosevelt. Now nominations are again in order."
Major Samuel D. Royce (Indiana): "On behalf of the State of Indiana, I nominate Colonel Theodore Roosevelt."
The motion was seconded.
Colonel Clark: "The gentleman from the District of Columbia has the floor. Others please be quiet."
Here I must inject my story into the minutes again. Colonel Roosevelt saw the convention was "getting away to a Roosevelt finish" again, to use a racing term, and he sent a hurry call to the Arizona delegation for Colonel Jack Greenway.
Jack Greenway followed the elder Roosevelt up San Juan hill. He wears underneath his civilian coat to-day, but right over his heart, a Distinguished Service Cross won at Cantigny.
"Jack, for Heaven's sake, tell them I won't take it," Colonel Roosevelt plead.
Colonel Jack waving one arm at the chairman and another at the audience strode to the center of the stage.
The minutes read:
Colonel Jack Greenway: "Will you give me the floor? I won't keep you five minutes.
"My name is Greenway but that doesn't mean anything to you. Gentlemen, Colonel Roosevelt has said that he is not going to take the nomination of the caucus and you can take it from me that he is not going to do it. Now wait a minute. Whoa! Quit yelling! I know this Roosevelt outfit and when they say something they mean it. I followed his daddy through Cuba and I know. I saw this boy in the first division at Cantigny and on the Toul Front and I know that he means he is not going to take the chairmanship of this temporary caucus. There is a big misunderstanding about what you are trying to do. I have just talked to Colonel Roosevelt and he says that he will not be a candidate for the temporary caucus, but if, after all the boys come home at the convention in November, it is still the desire of that body as a whole, he will give the matter reconsideration." (Applause.)
Colonel Roosevelt resumes the chairmanship.
"Gentlemen, I believe the nominations were reopened."
Now I must again put the minutes by for a moment, for Bill has come to the stage and what he says doesn't get into the minutes, although I wish his remarks were there:
"That was pretty fine in him," Bill said, pointing to Colonel Roosevelt. I nodded only, for somehow this whole thing had got to me pretty strong and I felt like crying for some unaccountable reason.
"And then he gives his family the credit for all this yelling," Bill was saying. "We like his family all right, but say, this wasn't to compliment his family, not by a darn sight. Why, you know that young Colonel's got a h—— of a fine record himself—"
Sergeant Sullivan got up and tried to withdraw in favor of Colonel Lindsley, and Colonel Lindsley did the same thing and each was refused the opportunity. Colonel Lindsley then took the floor. "Comrades," he said, "I want you to know that I came here for one man for the chairman of this caucus, and that man was Theodore Roosevelt. He has refused it absolutely. I appreciate the support that has been given to my name. If honored with the chairmanship I shall be glad to serve, but it is important that we get to business immediately. I am certain that Mr. Sullivan will make an excellent presiding officer. If I had the right, I should be glad to withdraw my name in his favor. But the point is, gentlemen, let's get to business. This is the greatest meeting that has ever gathered in the United States, and it is not so material who is chairman of the meeting as it is to proceed to business."
While the roll is being called let's glance around the theater again. Most of the men in uniform are enlisted men. It is difficult to tell at a glance just what rank or rating the majority of those present held in the army or navy because in civilian clothing the officer and the man are indistinguishable. I mean to say that our army [Pg 70]was different from most other military establishments. Being primarily a citizen affair it was really representative. It was the desire of the temporary committee that sixty per cent. of the delegates should be enlisted men and when the call for the caucus was issued that was set forth most plainly. No one seems to have taken the trouble to check the thing up at the caucus. Anyone desiring to do so can find the information in this volume. I was interested at the opening of the caucus to know just what the percentage was, but after it got into swing it didn't make any difference. No one cared. There was talk (among officers) of making an enlisted man permanent chairman. The only persons that I heard objecting to such a procedure were the enlisted men themselves.
"We've forgotten all that stuff about rank. If the officers insist on an enlisted man they'll make a mistake. We want the best man and because we're in the majority in the organization we don't want to discriminate against the officer. Taken as a whole, he was a mighty fine sort."
Colonel Roosevelt promptly put Sullivan's name in nomination for vice-chairman. Mr. Abbott of Ohio seconded it and further moved that the sergeant's election be made unanimous. Sergeant Jack Sullivan was elected by acclamation. Then Colonel Wood was chosen secretary, the rules of the House of Representatives were decided upon to govern the procedure, and debate was limited to five minutes.
Insistence on that point was unnecessary. Our new American back from the wars has been too accustomed to action to like words that aren't concise and aimed right at the heart of the point. There was a good deal of noise and talk at this particular juncture and someone moved the appointment of a sergeant at arms. Captain A.L. Boyce of Boyce's Tigers (those young men who drilled so persistently in Central Park in New York preparing for the war) was picked. While this guardian of the peace was being appointed at least five gentlemen from as many delegations started to speak at once, perhaps against the five-minute debate rule, and in the confusion a delegate, whom Checkers might have described as carrying a load he should have [Pg 72]made three trips with, took the platform and began something that sounded about as intelligible as Cicero's oration against Catiline in the original.
"Do I understand, Mr. Chairman, that a sergeant at arms has been appointed?" shouted Mr. J.L. Walsh of the Pennsylvania delegation.
"That's right," answered the chairman.
"Then let's have him get busy," rejoined Mr. Walsh. "We didn't come down here for a vaudeville show or to be entertained by some boob, because we've got boobs back home."
After this remark, the minutes read "Laughter and applause" but that doesn't half describe it.
Captain Boyce "got busy" and if the minutes could record the result of his actions they would probably read "Order restored—almost. Quieter, for a time."
Colonel Lindsley made a splendid presiding officer. None could have done better, but as the stenographer who took the minutes remarked (and she was convention-worn because she had attended so many): "This is the funnest meeting I ever wrote up." Right. It was the funniest meeting—funny being used in the sense of unusual as the stenographer meant it—that anyone ever saw. In fact it was unique; absolutely the only one of its kind. Because the delegates were [Pg 73]unique. There never was anything like them in all the history of the country. They had gone into training camps like Bill, very tired, anæmic, with a shop and office pallor; and they came out of the war like Bill,—new, virile, interested, placing a value on themselves which would have been unthinkable prior to April 6, 1917.
But they placed a greater value on this organization which was so near the heart of all of them. No better proof of it can be shown than the incident which has just been described, viz., the refusal of Theodore Roosevelt to be the permanent chairman. Although I do not pretend to be able to explain the processes of thought and reasoning which led Colonel Roosevelt to take the action he did, still I do know this much! There are very few young men who would have been so deaf to the plaudits of the multitude, to the advice of old friends and to the still small voice of personal ambition as he was in refusing. I maintain that this refusal was by no means altogether prompted by anything of an hereditary nature but, rather, by the experiences and environment which had been Colonel Roosevelt's during the war. It took more than an under-slung jaw and a rugged Rooseveltian determination to refuse this great honor. It took discipline, and Colonel Roosevelt knew how to inflict that upon himself just as he [Pg 74]did upon his troops whenever it was wise and necessary.
In much smaller, but no less important matters, did I see other men practice discipline upon themselves. I saw men forego the discussion of subjects in which they believed with all their hearts and with all their minds solely for the purpose of doing nothing that would tend to disrupt the Caucus or give the impression throughout the United States that the men who had stuck together so closely in times of daring and danger could not still stick and face, as a band of brothers in the American Legion, any perils or pitfalls which peace might hold for this country. Therefore, it seems to me that Colonel Roosevelt's action was more than a manifestation of his own sterling determination to do nothing which might hurt the Legion. It was archtypical.
Major Hamilton Fish of New York called attention to the fact that the navy was unrepresented in the offices of the caucus and moved that a second vice-chairman should be appointed from that branch of the service. A delegate from Missouri seconded the motion and amended it to read that a third vice-chairman should be appointed from the marine corps.
"Gentlemen," said one dignified delegate (I don't know who let him in, because just from the way he said "gentlemen" we all knew that once in his life he had practiced oratory before the bureau mirror), "I want to place in nomination the name of a man who is true blue—"
"Name him," shouted the crowd.
"He is not only true blue but he is thoroughly everything he ought to be in addition—" continued the orator, coldly trying to squelch the crowd.
"Name him." "Shut up." "Aw, sit down." "Who wants to listen to such 'bull' as that?"
Each of those sentences was roared by a different man.
Thus the way of orators in the caucus!
The navy men who were nominated consisted of Goerke of New York; Goldberg, Illinois; Chenoweth, Alabama; Almon, Montana; Humphrey, New Mexico; McGrath, New Jersey; and Evans of Kentucky. The secretary took the vote by delegations. When Goerke got a vote the New York crowd yelled itself hoarse; New Mexico did the same for Humphrey; Alabama cheered like mad for Chenoweth and it wasn't long before everybody picked out his candidate and yelled furiously every time he got a vote. The New Mexico delegation occupied a proscenium box but Humphrey wasn't prominent enough there to suit his delegation. Before anyone thoroughly realized what was happening, Seaman Humphrey appeared on the stage, borne on the shoulders of two colonels! Two men who had eagles on their shoulders, U.S. on their collars, and gold chevrons on their left sleeves carried on their shoulders a "gob," a sailorman, a deck-swabbing bluejacket, as he called himself.
It was the beginning of a cavalcade of noise that fairly made ear drums ache, and, incidentally, proved a signal for the backers of other candidates. Goerke soon was lifted aloft by a half dozen New Yorkers; Chenoweth was exhibited to the general view from the section of the orchestra occupied by his delegation, while Illinois [Pg 77]paraded up and down the aisles with Goldberg. Colonel Lindsley hammered the speaker's table almost to pieces in an attempt to get order and then gave it up for a few minutes as a bad job. Captain Boyce succeeded in getting a semblance of it, when everybody got tired of carrying the candidates and of shouting. Then the secretary again started taking the vote by delegations. No one of the candidates received a majority of the votes which was necessary under the procedure adopted at the beginning of the caucus. Then began the withdrawals. This State withdrew its vote from Goerke and cast it for Humphrey; Chenoweth withdrew from the race and his vote went to Goerke, et cetera. A similar situation resulted on the second count and finally Goerke withdrew in favor of Humphrey. When Evans took the same action, Humphrey (first name Fred), described as the "rough-riding sailor from New Mexico," was elected.
Humphrey's speech of acceptance delighted the hearts of those who had forced the would-be orator to sit down at the beginning of the nominations.
"Mr. Chairman, gobs, soldiers, and marines," Humphrey said: "I am most glad and gracious to accept this honorary position and I will do everything that a deck-swabbing sailorman can do to fill it."
The personnel of these committees will be found elsewhere.
Thursday evening and Friday morning were devoted largely to committee meetings and different sections of the country came together to discuss matters of particular interest to special localities. For instance, the Western delegations discussed the question of Bolshevism, because the symptoms of this mad disease had been more apparent in that section of the country than in any other. The question of color was practically decided in a meeting of the Executive Committee and was ratified later by various delegations representing the Southern States. Everybody was pleased. An attempt was made by the leaders of each delegation to keep such questions as might be "loaded with dynamite" off the actual floor of the caucus so that those lacking in discretion might not have the opportunity to throw the caucus into an uproar.[Pg 79]
In fact it was this spirit—the desire on everybody's part to give in to a certain extent on any mooted question for the sake of general harmony that was a marked feature of the gathering. In the committee meetings were found delegates with radically different opinions on almost every question. It was not an uncommon thing, however, to see a delegate very heatedly advocate a certain side of an issue; listen to the opposing side, rise, and with equal heat and fervency advocate the opposite point of view.
This spirit is highly significant. It will be one of the Legion's greatest powers. It was and is due to the fact that these new Americans are not cursed with fixed ideas. They have seen too much, lived through too much in their comparatively short lives to be narrow-minded. Over in the A.E.F. the former hod-carrier often turned out to be too good as a construction manager for any officer to despise his opinions. One noticeable characteristic of the American Legion delegate was the respect which he had for the other man's views and his willingness to admit outright that he was wrong in a thing or to go at least halfway with the opponent of his particular ideas. This was the saving grace of the caucus and this will be the saving grace of the Legion for the spirit which was manifested there is the spirit [Pg 80]which will prevail at Minneapolis, and for always, because the American sailor and soldier will not change.

It was interesting to see these modern American soldiers side by side with the veterans of the Civil War. The Grand Army of the Republic Post, the local Bivouac of the United Confederate Veterans, and the Spanish War Veterans gave a joint reception for the delegates at the Missouri Athletic Club which included a smoker and a vaudeville entertainment furnished by the War Camp Community Service.
Posted by at

Friday, July 28, 2017

The Birth of the Legion by George Seay Wheat, Chapter IV, (post #5)

CHAPTER IV

THE ADVANCE COMMITTEE

When the St. Louisian puffed its way into the big smoke-begrimed station in Missouri's largest city I looked about me for Bill, who was going to meet me at the station. We had not met since our prep. school and college days when Bill had been a thin, wizened little fellow, so hollow-chested that he had to be sent to Colorado for almost two years for his health. He came back to school looking better but before his diploma was handed to him announcing to the world that he was a full-fledged Bachelor of Arts, he had fallen apparently permanently into the rut of ill-health. In fact I wondered, when we all sang Auld Lang Syne in the fraternity house at the close of college, if I'd ever see Bill again.
From time to time I had heard from him in the years that followed, and one day in the summer of 1917 he wrote me that he was on the way to France.
As we walked toward the taxicab stand I began to realize that instead of an old friend, a stranger was beside me. True enough, he had the same name and the same colored eyes, and his hair hadn't changed. But the rather dreamy eye had cleared, the pale face of old was tanned, and Bill's chest—the one he had gone to Colorado for—was bulging out as he carried my two heavy suit cases like a pouter pigeon's at a poultry show.
What had happened to Bill? The little, quiet, timid youth of the past was now a big, burly, strong-bodied, clear-minded man. As we entered the taxi he was telling me that he "intended to raise hell if they didn't take some action against this blank Bolshevism, and furthermore that this new Legion was going to be the most tremendous organization that the U.S.A. had ever seen." If he had told me that Swinburne's Faustine was written in iambic hexameter it would have sounded more like old times. But here was a new man, strong and virile, intensely interested in the future of his nation.
What had happened to Bill? Eighteen months in the army was the answer.
This advanced delegation, two from each State, had been requested to come beforehand to meet on the morning of Tuesday, May 6th, so as to formulate a working order of business on which the caucus might proceed as soon as it assembled. There was another reason for this meeting also. The temporary committee wanted to avoid any appearance of having "framed up the caucus." By this it is meant that the committee wanted to be able to say to the caucus that its working procedure had been determined by a thoroughly representative body, a democratic, advanced delegation composed of men from every State in the Union. There were those critics of the Legion, who, had the temporary committee formulated the caucus procedure, would have been only too glad to have attempted to make trouble by saying [Pg 49]it was a controlled and made-to-order caucus—controlled and made-to-order by the men who had taken the lead in it. In fact, during the early morning of the first day the advanced committee met one delegation arrived with blood in its eyes determined to wage a fight against universal military training. One of the stories circulated at the time was to the effect that the entire Legion was nothing but a blind whereby a mysterious "Military Clique" was to gain supreme power over the Legion's policies. It took but a very short while to convince the would-be obstreperous delegation that the caucus was not the convention and was empowered solely to organize a veterans' association and not to adopt policies.
The temporary committee in America determined at the very beginning that no policies would be adopted at the caucus, that the Legion at this time should follow in the footsteps of its comrades abroad in stating that neither the men here nor the men there could, as different units, adopt broad policies until a convention could be held truly representing all men who had fought in the Great War.
"The idea underlying the formation of the American Legion is the feeling among the great mass of the men who served in the forces of this country during the war, that the impulse of patriotism which prompted their efforts and sacrifices should be so preserved that it might become a strong force in the future for true Americanism and better citizenship," Colonel Roosevelt said. He spoke very slowly and measured his words carefully but emphasized them in a tone of deepest conviction. "We will be facing troublous times in the coming years," he continued "and to my mind no greater safeguard could be devised than those soldiers, sailors, and marines formed in their own association, in such manner that they could make themselves felt for law and order, decent living and thinking, and truer 'nationalism.'"
Colonel Wood, the secretary, explained in greater detail the purpose of the proposed Legion. He broached the subject of the reemployment for soldiers, a legal department for the handling of insurance claims, allotments, etc., and sketched the fundamental principles of the organization as follows:
First, its non-partisanship.
Second, that this society should be equally for those whose duty called them overseas and for those who were held by circumstances on this side.
Third, that it is fundamentally a civilian organization, one in which all ranks, be they private or general, admiral or seaman, should have an equal share and participation.
Then the advance committeemen began themselves to talk. Each one, no matter on what subject and regardless of the side he took upon it, was permitted to air his feelings to the full satisfaction of himself at least. Like the Paris Caucus, the discussion grew heated at times and every now and then the chair was forced to remind overly fervid orators that this was an advanced meeting of the caucus and not the convention. There were those present who wanted to obligate the caucus to go on record for or against universal military training, woman suffrage, prohibition, [Pg 52]permanent headquarters, and to elect permanent officers, and each of these had to be shown that it would be unfair to the men still in the A.E.F. to take such preëminently vital steps without consulting them. Then there were those present who wanted to exclude members of the regular army and navy from the Legion; that is, to limit eligibility in the organization to those who could show discharge papers from either the army, navy, or marine corps. This measure was voted down and it was given as the sense of the advanced committee meeting that those who served in the Great War would have perfect liberty to join regardless of whether their service continued in the military establishment after the armistice or after peace was formally declared.
The advanced committee outlined the order of business upon which the caucus could proceed, named the various committees to be organized, and discussed the resolutions which were deemed wise and expedient topics for discussion.
Every man came with one deep-rooted determination and that was to see that no one "put anything over" which might make an organization so embryonically useful take a fatal or selfish step. Each came, perhaps imbued to a certain extent with his own particular ideas on how everything should be conducted; but the radicalism, sectionalism, and partisanship which would have marked a gathering of these same men three years before was not present. The men who had thought that nothing good could come except from south of the Mason and Dixon line had fought side by side with woodsmen from Maine. The man who had thought the East effete had done duty on a destroyer with a boy from Harlem. Everybody realized full well that sectionalism must be abandoned whenever it clashed with nationalism; and abandoned it was, with right good will.

The meeting of the advance committeemen justified itself as a very wise and judicious action on the part of the temporary committee. Any suspicion of a particular delegation that anything was "framed" was quickly allayed after a conference with its advance committeemen. If a man from Pennsylvania suspected that anything was on foot not to the liking of the Keystone[Pg 54] State he had only to ask his advance committeeman, Colonel D'Olier, about it. Incidentally the personnel of the advance committee was not so numerous that everybody couldn't know what everybody else was doing. As a matter of fact, everybody did know what everybody else was doing. One of the most peculiar facts of this most interesting caucus was that when it came to "pussy footing" pussy seemed to foot it on piano keys so far as secrecy was concerned and in such a fashion that usually the Star Spangled Banner was played. I know that the night and the morning before the caucus met that there were many and various powwows and conferences, a great many of which I attended, but there wasn't a one that I knew of or ever heard about, the full details of which could not have been printed in bold-faced type on the front page of every St. Louis newspaper and have reflected credit on the powwowers as well as on the American Legion.
Posted by at

Hams with a plan JUL 28, 2017

A post ham radio club in Montana is setting itself up for the future through forging relationships.
Post 91 in Corvallis, Mont., was chartered in 1937, and started a ham radio club (call sign KG7SPL) in the spring of 2015. That club was the dual brainchild of Post Adjutant Doug Mason, then a novice ham – “I’ve wanted to be a ham radio operator since I was a kid,” he says – and member and longtime ham Roy Meyer, who recently passed away. Mason credits Meyer with encouraging him to pursue his interest.
Around 10 Legionnaires and Sons of The American Legion members were already hams, so membership was not a problem. Once the club was organized, Mason started making plans. And he has a lot of them. Continuing the post’s longstanding involvement with local schools, Mason is talking to a science teacher about possibilities like instituting ham radio as a class, or getting the club involved in the school’s drone-racing project. (Using different frequencies, with more power sent to them, can make the drones go faster, according to Mason.)
Another plan of Mason’s is to make use of two grain silos recently donated to the post, by placing each on either side of the valley Corvallis sits in and placing a ham shack in each. This is part of the post’s disaster preparedness activities; he is also working with the valley’s emergency ham club.
And the club is laying the groundwork for its future growth by getting the word out about ham radio and helping people get their license. Of all the club’s activities, Mason says, “There’s this hole … we’d like to fill it. It’s all about relationships.”
Posted by at

Thursday, July 27, 2017

The Birth of the Legion by George Seay Wheat, Chapter III, (post #4)

CHAPTER III.

PRE-CAUCUS DAYS IN AMERICA.

Once home again it didn't take a Solomon to tell Colonel Roosevelt that he had a man's size job on his hands in starting the American Legion on its way in the United States. Dispatches more or less accurate had told the service men on this side something about the Legion activities of the A.E.F. in France. As late as mid-April, however, a great many men in this country knew nothing whatever about the American Legion, while the majority of those who did were not at all sure it was to be The Veteran's Organization. What I have said previously about the "spontaneous opinion" of the men in France on the question of a veteran's organization proved to be equally true among service men on this side of the water. Consequently, it wasn't long after the armistice before several veteran's organizations and associations were in the process of formation. As it was a pertinent news topic, the newspapers gave a great deal of prominence in their columns to several of these [Pg 32]organizations. They were of various types and characters. One was for enlisted men only. Another was for officers only. There was an organization for officers who had fought in France, Italy, or Russia and there was one or more organizations which had the breadth of vision to see that men of all ranks and all branches of the military and naval establishments must be eligible.
Such was the situation confronting Colonel Roosevelt when he arrived home to help start the American Legion in its own country. The fact of his arrival and his announced intention to aid in the organization of the Legion was duly heralded in the press of the United States.
There were those who did not like the American Legion. There were those who were willing to let a past political prejudice deter them from aiding in the most important movement in American life to-day. There were those who stated that Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., was prominent in organizing the American Legion for his own political advancement. The answer to that misapprehension will develop later and will prove one of the most striking incidents in this story.
Colonel Roosevelt has a peculiarly happy faculty of keeping those who work with him cheerful and optimistic. He gathered around him, to launch the movement in America, a set of cheerful, competent optimists, prominent among whom were Colonel Richard Derby, Colonel Franklin D'Olier, who figured in the Paris Caucus, Major Cornelius W. Wickersham, Assistant Chief of Staff of the Twenty-seventh Division, Captain Henry Fairfield Osborne, Lieutenant Colonel Granville Clark, Lieutenant Colonel Leslie Kincaide, Lieutenant Colonel Eric Fisher Wood and Captain H.B. Beers. One of Colonel Roosevelt's first duties as temporary chairman of the Legion over here was to create the nation wide organization. He needed committeemen in every State to work the State organization up, and to start the machinery for the election of delegates to the St. Louis Caucus, [Pg 34]for it had been decided that the representation in St. Louis must be by duly elected representatives from congressional districts in so far as that was possible. Each such district was awarded double its congressional representation, in addition to the delegates at large. It was no easy task to pick these committeemen. The decision of the Paris gathering that the organization must be non-partisan and non-political had to be adhered to in its fullest sense. There were soldiers and sailors enough in all the States who would have been willing to have started the organization in their respective localities, but how not to get politicians of the lower order, men who would gladly prostitute the Legion, its aims and ambitions to their own selfish advantage—that was the problem which faced the temporary committee in America.
About three weeks before the St. Louis Caucus the following names were chosen from the various States as committeemen:

OFFICERS

Lt. Col. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., New York, Chairman
Lt. Col. Bennett Clark, Missouri, Vice-Chairman
Lt. Col. Eric Fisher Wood, Pennsylvania, Secretary.
Alabama
Lt. H.M. Badham, Jr.,Birmingham
Pvt. W.M. Cosby, Jr.,Birmingham
Sgt. Edwin Robertson,Birmingham
[Pg 35]
Arizona
Pvt. Ned Bernard,            Tucson
Lt. Col. J.C. Greenway,      Bisbee
Arkansas
Pvt. P.R. Graybill, Democ. Pub. Co.Little Rock
Major J.J. Harrison,Little Rock
Pvt. Walter J. Wilkins,Pine Bluff
California
Sgt. L.P. Adams,San Francisco
Corp. Chas. A. Beck,San Francisco
Lt. Col. Benjamin H. Dibblee,San Francisco
Chaplain Joseph D. McQuade,San Francisco
Major Stewart Edward White,Santa Barbara
Colorado
Lt. G.W. Cutting,Florence
Sgt. C.C. Neil,Greeley
Major H.A. Saidy,Colorado Springs
Sgt. Phil. G. Thompson,Denver
Connecticut
Maj. Morgan G. Bulkeley,Hartford
Lt. Col. Jas. L. Howard,Hartford
District of Columbia
Pvt. L. Clarkson Hines,Washington
Col. E. Lester Jones,Washington
Delaware
Major Thomas W. Miller,Wilmington
Capt. John P. Nields,Wilmington
Florida
Brig Gen A.H. Blanding,Bartow
[Pg 36]
Georgia
Col. Alexander R. Lawton, Jr.,Savannah
Capt. Landon Thomas,Augusta
Idaho
Major C.M. Booth,Pocatello
Pvt. John Green,Twin Falls
Major Hawley, Jr.,Boisé
Pvt. D.H. Holt,Caldwell
Illinois
Chf. Petty Officer B.J. Goldberg,Chicago
Maj. Owsley Brown,Springfield
Rear Admiral Frederick B. Bassett,Great Lakes
1st Cl. Pvt. Edw. J. Czuj,Chicago
Maj. Thomas Gowenlock,Chicago
1st Cl. Pvt. Hy. Hickman Harris,Champaign
1st Cl. Pvt. Geo. Kendall Hooton,Danville
Ensign Allen M. Loeb,Chicago
Capt. Clark Nixon,East St. Louis
Maj. John Callan O'Laughlin,Chicago
Capt. Joseph Medill Patterson,Chicago
1st Cl. Pvt. C.J. Schatz,Wheaton
Brig. Gen. Robt. E. Wood,Chicago
Sgt. David S. Wright,Oak Park
Indiana
Col. Solon J. Carter,Indianapolis
Ensign Win. L. Hutcheson,Indianapolis
Sgt. R.J. Leeds,Richmond
iowa
Sgt. Chas. A. Doxsee,Monticello
Major H.H. Polk,Des Moines
Kansas
Gen. Chas. I. Martin,Topeka
Gen. Wilder S. Metcalf,Lawrence
Sgt. Fred C. Stanford,Independence
Sgt. Mahlon S. Weed,Lawrence
[Pg 37]
Kentucky
Pvt. Samuel J. Culbertson,Louisville
Lt. W.C. Dabney,Louisville
Capt. Shelby Harbison,Lexington
Major James Wheeler,Paducah
Louisiana
Capt. Allen Cook,New Orleans
Lt. John M. Parker, Jr.,New Orleans
Maine
Lt. Col. Arthur Ashworth,Bangor
Col. Frank W. Hume,103d Inf.
Capt. A.L. Robinson,Portland
Pvt. Daniel J. Smart,
Sgt. Wm. H. Whalen,103d Inf.
Sgt. Freeman Wheaton,107th Inf.
Maryland
Lt. James A. Gary, Jr.Baltimore
Sgt. Alexander Randall,Baltimore
Major Redmond Stewart,Baltimore
Brig. Gen. W.S. Thayer,Baltimore
Massachusetts
Brig. Gen. Charles H. Cole,Boston
Sgt. Edw. J. Creed,101st Inf.
Sgt. Ernest H. Eastman,104th Inf.
Major J.W. Farley,Boston
Lt. Col. Louis Frothingham,Boston
Sgt. Geo. Gilbody,101st Inf.
Sgt. Daniel J. Nolan,
Michigan
Lt. Col. Fredk. M. Alger,Detroit
Sgt. Rand F. English,Detroit
1st Sgt. Wm. King,Detroit
Lt. Commander Truman H. Newberry,Detroit
[Pg 38]
Minnesota
Pvt. Gordon Clark,Duluth
Major Paul B. Cook,St. Paul
Pvt. Wm. D. Mitchell,St. Paul
Pvt. W. Bissell Thomas,Minneapolis
Mississippi
Lt. John N. Alexander,Jackson
Sgt. Maj. C.J. Craggs,Greenville
Major Alex. Fitzhugh,Vicksburg
Corp. Isador A. Frank,Clarksdale
Sgt. Elmer Price,McComb
Missouri
Brig. Gen. H.C. Clarke,Jefferson City
Pvt. David R. Francis, Jr.,St. Louis
Corp. Sestus J. Wade, Jr.,St. Louis
Montana
Col. J.J. McGuiness,Helena
Corp. Chas. S. Pew,Helena
Nebraska
Major P.F. Cosgrove,Lincoln
Pvt. T.T. McGuire,Omaha
Sgt. R. Scott,Imperial
Lt. Allan A. Tukey,Omaha
Nevada
Sgt. E.L. Malsbary,Reno
Lt. Col. Jas. G. Scrugham,Reno
New Hampshire
Sgt. Herve L'Heureaux,Manchester
Major Frank Knox,Manchester
New Jersey
Col. Hobart Brown,Newark
Sgt. Allan Eggers,Summit
1st Lt. Geo. W.C. McCarter,Newark
Corp. Roger Young,Newark
[Pg 39]
New Mexico
Capt. Bronson M. Cutting,Santa Fé
Col. Debjemond,Roswell
Pvt. Canuto Trujillo,Chimayo
New York
Lt. Col. Robert Bacon,New York
Lt. Col. Grenville Clark,New York
Brig. Gen. Chas. I. Debevoise,Brooklyn
Pvt. Meade C. Dobson,New York
Col. Wm. J. Donovan,New York
Lt. Samuel Gompers, Jr.,New York
Seaman Jos. F. Healey,New York
Chaplain Francis A. Kelley,Albany
Lt. Col. J. Leslie Kincaid,Syracuse
Ensign Jerome H. Larger,Brooklyn
Ensign W.G. McAdoo, Jr.,New York
Sgt. Major Howard H. McLellan,Yonkers
Ensign R.H. Mitchell,New York
Major General John F. O'Ryan,New York
Lt. D. Lincoln Reed,New York
Col. Henry L. Stimson,New York
Lt. Col. Chas. W. Whittlesey,New York
Major Cornelius W. Wickersham,New York
Sgt. Clarence E. Williams,New York
North Carolina
Lt. R.W. Glenn,Greensboro
Lt. Cyrus D. Hogue,Wilmington
NORTH DAKOTA
Capt. Matthew Murphy,Fargo
Ohio
Sgt. Jas. K. Campbell,Shreve
Lt. Col. Jas. R. Cochran,Columbus
Lt. Col. Ralph D. Cole,Columbus or Findlay
Lt. Col. Isadore H. Duke,Cincinnati
[Pg 40]
Oklahoma
Sgt. Eugene Atkins,Muskogee
Brig. Gen. Roy Hoffman,Oklahoma City
Oregon
Pvt. Harry Critchlow,Portland
Sgt. Carl B. Fenton,Dallas
Lt. Col. Geo. Kelley,Portland
Col. F.W. Leadbetter,Portland
Lt. Col. Geo. A. White,Portland
Pennsylvania
Major Chas. J. Biddle,Philadelphia
Lt. Joseph F. Frayne,Scranton
Lt. Col. Robt. E. Glendinning,Philadelphia
Lt. Col. John Price Jackson,Harrisburg
Pvt. George Jones,Scranton
Maj. Alexander Laughlin, Jr.,Pittsburg
Col. Asher Miner,Wilkes-Barre
Lt. John R. Sproul,Chester
Lt. Bernard J. Voll,Philadelphia
Rhode Island
Major Geo. E. Buxton, Jr.,Providence
Col. Everitte St. J. Chaffee,Providence
Sgt. W.C. Kendrick,Pawtucket
South Carolina
Sgt. W.C. Coward,Cheraw
Lt. Chas. C. Pinckney,Charleston
C.T. Trenholm,Charleston
Major W.D. Workman,Greenville
South Dakota
Capt. Lawrence R. Bates,Sioux Falls
Capt. Royal C. Johnson,Aberdeen
Sgt. Ruble Lavery,Vermilion
Sgt. Jos. F. Pfeiffer,Rapid City
[Pg 41]
Tennessee
Col. James A. Gleason,Knoxville
Sgt. Major Keith J. Harris,Chattanooga
Sgt. John Hays,Memphis
Col. Luke Lea,Nashville
Major T.C. Thompson, Jr.Chattanooga
Pvt. C.W. Tomlinson,Chattanooga
Texas
Capt. Stanley E. Kempner,Galveston
Col. H.D. Lindsley,Dallas
Col. H.B. Moore,Texas City
Utah
Sgt. Maj. H.H. McCartney,Salt Lake City
Gen. R.W. Young,Salt Lake City
Virginia
Pvt. Frank G. Christian,Richmond
Lt. C. Francis Cocke,Roanoke
Col. Stuart McGuire,Richmond
Vermont
Pvt. Donald J. Emery,Newport
Sgt. Eugene V. Finn,St. Albans
Major H. Nelson Jackson,Burlington
Capt. Redfield Proctor,Burlington
Washington
Lt. Col. R.W. Llewellen,Seattle
Major P.P. Marion,Seattle
Brig. Gen. Harvey J. Moss,Seattle
Sgt. John J. Sullivan,N. Seattle
Sgt. Major R.H. Winsor,Tacoma
West Virginia
Capt. Fleming W. Alderson,Charleston
Sgt. Walter S. Moore,Huntington
Sgt. Thomas Schofield,Wheeling
Lt. Col. Jackson A. Weston,Charleston
[Pg 42]
Wisconsin
Edward F. Ackley,Milwaukee
Pvt. David Bloodgood,Milwaukee
Sgt. Elmer S. Owens,Milwaukee
Col. Gilbert E. Seaman,Milwaukee
Pvt. John P. Szulcek,Milwaukee
Wyoming
Major A.S. Beach,Lusk
Sgt. Morris A. Dinneen,Cheyenne
Pvt. I.H. Larom,Valley Ranch

United American War Veterans,Warren S. Fischer, Commander-in-Chief
Comrades in Service,Bishop Brent, President,
National Legion of America,Major Elihu Church,
American Army Association,Lt. Haywood Hillyer, General Secretary.
Just about this time it became most necessary to properly present the Legion to those men who had remained at home and who had gotten out of the Service, and to those who were incoming from France and rapidily being demobilized, as it was upon them that the success of the Legion depended. Furthermore, their opinions were the soil upon which the various State organizations had to work, and at that particular time it was vital that the Legion should be widely known and thoroughly understood; that its aims and ambitions should not be misconstrued either willfully [Pg 43]or unintentionally, nor its precepts perverted. To this end the temporary Chairman proceeded to publicize it in the most thorough fashion. One-page bulletins briefly outlining the Legion's aims and ambitions were distributed in every center where soldiers and seamen gathered. Such places as Y.M.C.A. and K. of C. huts and War Camp Community recreation centers were thoroughly informed, and bulletins also were sent to every ship in the navy with the request that they be placed on the ship's bulletin board.
Literature about the Legion was placed on transports when they left empty for France so that the men might read it in their leisure hours returning home. In order to make sure that every soldier and sailor would have the opportunity to know about the Legion this literature was again placed on the transports as they arrived in New York harbor. Various demobilization camps throughout the country were widely placarded and in each instance the names of the Temporary State Secretaries were given, and service men were invited to write to the Secretaries in their particular States. Camp publications, newspapers, and periodicals published for service men throughout the country were bountifully supplied with Legion information and scores of them carried special stories in regard to it. Bulletins and pamphlets [Pg 44]were distributed in hospitals, placed on bulletin boards, and given to the patients. Every mayor of a town or city with a population above nine hundred got a letter containing literature about the Legion with a request that it be given publicity in the local press and then turned over to the Chairman of the Welcome Home Committee. Certain national magazines devoted a great deal of space to special articles explaining the Legion.
Three or four times a week the Foreign Press Bureau of the United States Government sent stories about the Legion and its activities by wireless to the ships on sea and to the men of the A.E.F. in connection with its "Home News Service." In addition to the foregoing, articles appeared almost daily in the press throughout the entire country, and by the time the convention was ready to meet those who ran and cared to read were fully informed that the American Legion was an organization for veterans of the army, navy, and marine corp; that it was non-partisan and non-political; that it stood for law and order, decent living, decent thinking, and true Americanism.

The wide publicity given to the Legion and its aims brought into the Temporary Committee many amusing letters. Scores of them complained of the published statement that it was non-partisan and non-political. "Damn it all, we want it to be [Pg 45]political and partisan," one angry Westerner wrote. Another correspondent insisted that in view of the fact that sons of Theodore Roosevelt, and Speaker Champ Clark were interested, the Legion must be bi-partisan and bi-political. But most of the letters were of a highly commendatory character, expressing the deepest and widest possible interest. I recall that one of them came from Junction City, Kansas, another from Old Town, Maine; one from Delray, Texas, and others from Wolf Creek, Montana, Orlando, Florida, and Ray's Crossing, Indiana, while a postal card making frantic inquiries was dated Nome, Alaska, and arrived a week after the caucus at St. Louis. I have mentioned these towns and localities because they indicate how widespread and deep is the interest in the Legion. No matter where a man came from to go into the army, the Legion will go to him in his home now. Its members will range from fishermen on the Florida Keys to the mail carriers on the Tanana in Alaska, from the mill hands of New England to the cotton planters of the Mississippi delta. All who wore the uniform may enroll just so long as the word Americanism was inscribed in their hearts between April 6, 1917, and November 11, 1918.
Posted by at
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)