Free Republic

<p>The attention American Legion posts receive every Memorial Day is often overshadowed by what happens during the rest of the year; and what’s been happening for the last several decades.</p><p>The once-thriving membership of veterans — from World War I and World War II, followed by the Korean and Vietnam wars are getting older. But George Van Der Wall, station commander at the post in North Haledon in Passaic Counry, isn’t ready to give up the fight just yet.</p>

There's something attractive in the party names in the Supreme Court's decision on the relationship between government and religion: American Legion v. American Humanist Association. Both organizations, the veterans group formed after World War I and the secular humanist group founded the year this nation entered World War II, want to tell you how American they are. And they are locked in the longstanding debate over the meaning of the first clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion," it reads, "or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Note...

A large cross in Bladensburg, Maryland has been a source of controversy for years as we awaited the Supreme Court's decision on whether the symbol can continue to stand. A local post of The American Legion erected the Bladensburg Peace Cross in 1925. To most, the statue was dedicated to the memory of 49 local heroes who gave their lives serving in the U.S. Armed Forces in WWI. To the Humanist Association, it was an unconstitutional eyesore. They sued in 2014 arguing the cross violated the Establishment Clause and demanded its removal. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth...

The Supreme Court will decide the constitutionality of a towering cross-shaped memorial to Maryland men who died in the First World War. The Supreme Court agreed in early November to hear the case in which the American Legion is asking the high court to reverse a 2017 appeals court ruling that the memorial violates the First Amendment’s prohibition on governments establishing religion. Overturning a lower court’s decision, the Fourth Circuit panel said the memorial, which stands on public land, is unconstitutional because it “excessively entangles the government in religion.” The case may be a gauge for the conservatism of the...

The American Legion is demanding that President Donald Trump issue a proclamation honoring Sen. John McCain’s heroism, and order the nation’s flags to be flown at half-staff. The nation’s largest veterans’ service organization urged Trump in a statement Monday to follow longtime protocol following the deaths of prominent government officials. The group noted that Trump issued presidential proclamations commemorating the deaths of first lady Barbara Bush and pastor Billy Graham. McCain, who died Saturday at 81, is a decorated Vietnam War hero who spent more than five years as a prisoner-of-war and served in the Senate for six terms.

Thieves broke into a Baldwin Park American Legion post, an organization that helps veterans and their families. Those thieves cleared out a rifle rack and a safe. Somebody broke in through a side door and headed straight to the office — breaking a door off its hinges to get in. Inside the safe was about $3,000. Money to pay for their veterans programs, feed community members and buy presents for kids who might not have a Christmas. “We have events such as 9/11, Thanksgiving, Christmas. And that was money for them,” said Avalar. Also in the safe were important documents....

TOMBSTONE — In the town too tough to die, being a biker is no longer a men’s club. In fact, the ladies of Tombstone’s American Legion Riders are breaking stereotypes about what it means to be a biker. On a windy Saturday afternoon, the legion riders at Post 24 file in for the group’s regular meeting on historic Allen Street in Tombstone. The sound of heavy boots thud down the halls of the biker bar to the back room where a sea of leather-clad bikers filled the seats along long white tables. Some members of the American Legion are what...

President Trump Gives Remarks to the National Convention of the American Legion - White House original copy - YouTube- full event

It's his "Free Bird." The American Legion boys erupted in ecstatic cheers when President Donald Trump couldn't resist taking a dig at the "fake news" press while taking a photograph with them. Trump addressed the American Legion Boys Nation and Auxiliary Girls Nation on Wednesday at the White House, taking a more hopeful and inspirational tone than in his politically loaded speech to the Boy Scouts this week. Before his speech, he posted for pictures with the both groups. After the picture with the boys, Trump said he'd be returning shortly to make his televised remarks. "We'll say a few...

-Legion Riders Rescue Bruce- Yesterday members of Post 54 Legion Riders, Dan Barkalow (pictured) and Bob Grigs with their friend Ryan Bailey represented Post 54 at the Veteran's Day ceremony conducted at the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in Holmdel. At the conclusion of the ceremony they decided to take advantage of the beautiful day by taking a ride to Manasquan before returning to Freehold. On the way home, taking the back roads to Freehold, lead rider, Dan, noticed a broken down bike on the side of Allaire Road, near Allaire State Park. The Legion Riders pulled over to assist their fellow...

Donald Trump vowed Thursday to “rebuild our depleted military” and ensure America’s soldiers are the best-equipped in the world as he addressed the American Legion's annual convention – and sought to rebut Hillary Clinton’s suggestion to the same crowd a day earlier that he doesn’t believe America is “exceptional.” Kicking off the address in Cincinnati, Ohio, by invoking his campaign slogan, “America First,” Trump tried to settle any doubts about his support for the Armed Forces. He called for a state-of-the-art missile defense, a “total reform” of the Veterans Affairs Department and a policy of “peace through strength.” “Nobody will...

435 Hillary Clinton arrived 37 minutes late for her speech to the American Legion conference in Cincinnati today, after rocking the night away at a fundraiser with Jimmy Buffett, Paul McCartney, and Jon Bon Jovi in the Hamptons in New York. Conference organizers were forced to fill the time gap with music and videos while military veterans waited in the audience for her arrival. Clinton was scheduled to take the stage at noon, but it wasn’t until 12:37 p.m. that a conference organizer introduced her.

“Hillary Clinton has shown she is fundamentally unequipped to further the national security interests of the United States and stand up for our veterans. As Secretary of State, she put our country’s diplomacy up for sale to Clinton Foundation donors and exposed classified information on more than 2,000 occasions on her secret email server. And whether it was her votes against veterans medical care in the U.S. Senate or her claims that the ongoing VA wait time crisis wasn't 'widespread,’ Hillary Clinton is completely out-of-touch with veterans issues and the systemic mismanagement that has persisted under President Obama’s failed leadership....

Hillary Clinton pitched her foreign policy to Republican voters in a speech to the American Legion on Wednesday, arguing that she would best uphold American values and protect national security interests. At the veterans' group annual convention in Cincinnati, the Democratic presidential nominee called the United States an "exceptional nation," and accused Republican rival Donald Trump of thinking that approach is "insulting to the rest of the world." Clinton said the country has a "unique and unparalleled ability to be a force for peace and progress." She questioned Trump's support for the military and hit him for his last-minute trip...

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton attempted Wednesday to pre-empt Donald Trump’s visit to Mexico later in the day, telling an American Legion convention in Cincinnati Trump could not undo a year of insults in a few hours.

WHY is hiLIARY's American Legion speech being broadcast live on CNN/MSNBC/FOX and ABC/CBS/NBC??? Is this the State of the Union address or something? Why is hiLIARY being broadcast live on all of the cable news channels as well as ABC/CBS/NBC??

While the American Legion is hosting its 98th lavish National Convention, with Hillary Clinton and Robert McDonald as guests, on Wednesday, August 31, the veteran community has been struck with "yet another" unglamorous tragedy: our "yet another" 76-year-old veteran shot himself on August 21 after being denied care.

Bernie Sanders asked to drop American Legion emblem from campaign The American Legion has asked the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders to "cease and desist" from using the organization's emblem in campaign fliers. The American Legion wrote to Sanders' Senate office that it did not have permission to use the emblem in his campaign fliers. Sanders' campaign didn't immediately return a request seeking comment. The American Legion has twice complained to Sanders officials since Jan. 22 about the use of the emblem in campaign materials. A Feb. 1 letter from the American Legion obtained by The Associated Press...

William Shatner will boldly travel across the U.S. on a three-wheeled motorcycle. The “Star Trek” star announced plans Monday for the cross-country mission to promote his custom trike and raise awareness about the American Legion. “I am taking another step into the unknown,” the 84-year-old actor said in a statement.

Homeless American veterans shiver in the bitter cold while illegal immigrants receive subsidized four-year degrees. At midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold, Christ was born in a stable after his parents were turned away by every innkeeper. Joseph and Mary did not respond with entitlement: “If you don’t shelter us, then you’re racist.” Rather, they used their ingenuity to find an alternative birthplace for their son among friends—farm animals, shepherds, kings, and angels—beneath the light of an extraordinary star. “And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because...