For sale is an early vintage 1937 AMERICAN LEGION MEDAL and RIBBON from the 19th Annual Convention at York, PA. Medal is in great condition. The front is engraved “1938 Cleveland” and features a steam boat and city landscape. Medal and Ribbon measures about 4 1/2 inches by 1 1/2 inches. The best thing about this medal is that it was worn by one of the convention center workers who served the attendees: the “water boy”. 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.
