Project Gutenberg's The Story of The American Legion, by George Seay Wheat

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Title: The Story of The American Legion

Author: George Seay Wheat

Release Date: December 26, 2004 [EBook #14478]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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The Story of The American Legion

By

George Seay Wheat

The Birth of the Legion

The first of a series to be issued after each
Annual National Convention

_Illustrated_

[Illustration: The St. Louis Caucus]

G.P. Putnam's Sons
New York and London
The Knickerbocker Press
1919

The Knickerbocker Press, New York

FOREWORD

The American Legion was conceived by practically the entire personnel
of the army, navy, and marine corps! Every man in the military and
naval establishment did not think of it in just such terms, but most
of them knew that there would be a veterans' organization of some
tremendous import, and here it is!

"A veterans' organization of some kind will be formed." I heard that
identical remark not once, but a dozen times on board a transport en
route to France as early as September, 1918. In fact, one night in the
war zone a group of officers were huddled around a small piano trying
to make the best of a lightless evening, and, having sung every song
from _Keep the Home Fires Burning_ to _You're in the Army Now_,
paused, longingly toyed cigarettes which were taboo by ship's order,
and then began to spin yarns.

"Reminds me of a G.A.R. reunion," one second lieutenant from Maine
remarked, after a particularly daring training camp adventure had been
recounted.

"Just think of the lying we'll all do at our reunions when this war is
over," chirped a youngster from South Carolina. And then spoke a tall
major from Illinois:

"The organization which you young fellows will join won't be any
_liefest_--at least not for forty years. Don't forget there's some
saving to do for the United States when this European mess is over. Us
fellows won't ever get out of Uncle Sam's service."

How well the Illinois