For sale is an early vintage 1936 AMERICAN LEGION MEDAL and RIBBON from the 18th Annual Convention at Johnstown, PA. Medal is in fair condition. Ribbon is frayed. The name plate has the name “LF Snyder”. The front is engraved “1936 Johnstown, PA” and features the Old Stone Bridge. Medal and Ribbon measures about 4 inches by 2 inches. A great veteran or military collectible.
A group of 20 officers who served in the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I were asked to suggest ideas on how to improve troop morale. One officer, Lt. Col. Theodore Roosevelt Jr., proposed an organization of veterans, which we know today as The American Legion. Eligibility for American Legion membership is limited to those honorably discharged veterans and current personnel of the United States Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard or Air Force who served at least one day of active duty during a time of armed conflict.
The American Legion’s largest annual meeting is the national convention. Each of the Legion’s 55 departments — the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, France, Mexico and Philippines — is entitled to a minimum of five voting delegates to the national convention. A department is granted one extra delegate, a member in good standing, for each 1,000 members 30 days before the convention. The five annually elected vice commanders round out the group of delegates present. The national convention delegates alone have the authority to approve changes to the Legion’s constitution and bylaws. The group is also responsible for passing programs that determine the course of the Legion, setting membership dues for the upcoming year, and electing a national commander and five national vice commanders to serve until the next convention.
