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Title: The Story of The American Legion Author: George Seay Wheat Release Date: December 26, 2004 [EBook #14478] [Most recently updated: July 30, 2020] Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF THE AMERICAN LEGION *** Produced by Curtis Weyant, Asad Razzaki and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team 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 G.P. Putnam's Sons New York and London The Knickerbocker Press 1919 The Knickerbocker Press, New York The St. Louis Caucus 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 major hit the nail on the head! The incident on the transport seems worth recording not only because of the major but because it shows the general anticipation of what is now the American Legion. Perhaps it was this general anticipation which is responsible for the cordial reception that the Legion has had ever since its very inception in Paris. No one can lay claim to originating the idea of a veterans' association, because it was a consensus among the men of the armed forces of our nation. A certain group of men can take unto themselves the credit for starting it, for getting the ball rolling, aiding its momentum, and, what is more important, for guiding it in the right direction, but no one man or group of men "thought up" the American Legion. It was the result of what might be called the "spontaneous opinion" of the army, navy, and marine corps caused by a fusing together in a common bond of the various elements of the service, just as spontaneous combustion is brought about by the joint action of certain chemical elements. Spontaneous opinion, like spontaneous combustion, is dangerous when improperly handled and beneficient when rightly directed. That's what the organizers of the Legion have been and will be mostly concerned with. They have their elements—these men of the army, navy, and marine corps, and the organizers mean to direct this united and organized patriotism into such channels as will make for the welfare of the United States of America primarily, and, secondarily, for the welfare of the service men themselves. Just how much attention this Legion with four million potential members intends to pay to the United States of America, and just how much to themselves per se, is basicly important and pertinent as a question, nowadays when the Legion is being tried and is on the witness stand before public opinion. The answer is most clearly indicated by the preamble to the proposed constitution printed elsewhere. This preamble stresses Americanism, individual obligation to the community, state, and nation; battling with autocracy both of the classes and masses; right the master of might; peace and good will on earth; justice, freedom, and democracy! Only in the last two words of the preamble is mention made of the welfare of the men themselves. These two words are mutual helpfulness. But be sure and understand the connection in which they are used. "... we associate ourselves together ... to consecrate and sanctify our comradeship by our devotion to mutual helpfulness." This is the way the last purpose of the preamble reads. The men who framed this constitution certainly did not believe that comradeship would be consecrated and sanctified by anything of a selfish character under the guise of mutual helpfulness. Certainly not the comradeship that made bearable the zero hour in the trenches or the watch in a submarine infested sea. To go a little in advance of the story and speak practically, mutual helpfulness has meant so far voting down a pay grab from Congress; a get-together spirit to foster the growth of the Legion; a purpose to aid in the work of getting jobs for returning soldiers, and the establishment of legal departments throughout the country to help service men get back pay and allotments. Mutual helpfulness in this case would seem to make Uncle Sam as much a partner in it as are the Legion members. Because, for every job the Legion gets an unemployed man, and for every dollar Legion lawyers help collect for back pay and allotments, a better citizen is made. And better citizenship is what the Legion most wants. So here seems to be the place to make the patent observation that mutual helpfulness will in future years mean just what it means to-day—doing something for the United States of America. At the present time the Legion might be compared to a two-headed American eagle— one looking towards France and the A.E.F., and the other homewards to the service men here. The two are a single body borne on the same wings and nourished of the same strength. They are the same in ideal and purpose but directed for the moment by two different committees working together. One committee is the result of the caucus at Paris in March, when the A.E.F. started the organization, while the other was born this month in St. Louis, Mo., for the men here. GEORGE S. WHEAT. NEW YORK May, 1919. CONTENTS I.— Latter War Days in France II.— The Paris Caucus, March 15-17, 1919 III.— Pre-Caucus Days in America IV.— The Advance Committee V.— The St. Louis Caucus, May 8, 9, and 10 VI.— The Legion and the Bolsheviki VII.— The Legion won't Meet at Chicago VIII.— The Silver Lining IX.— Objectors—Conscientious and Otherwise X.— The Reëmployment Problem XI.— The Disregard of Self XII.— The Closing Hours XIII.— Why the American Legion? The American Legion Constitution of the American Legion Resolutions Legion Facts What the Public Press Thinks Committees Roster ILLUSTRATIONS The St. Louis Caucus Henry D. Lindsley The Paris Caucus Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. Group at St. Louis Caucus Bennett C. Clark Eric Fisher Wood Gaspar Bacon State Chairmen Herbert, Mathewson, and Wickersham “Jack” Sullivan Chaplain J.W. Inzer Fred Humphrey P.C. Calhoun The Story of the American Legion CHAPTER I LATTER WAR DAYS IN FRANCE I believe that the army of to-day, when it goes back to citizen thinking and citizen acting, will be capable of so contributing to the commonwealth of the United States as to change the character of the whole country and lift it up to a higher plane. BISHOP BRENT, Senior Chaplain, A.E.F. Paris, March, 1919. On a midsummer morning in 1918, ambulance after ambulance unloaded its cargo of wounded humanity at a base hospital in Paris. The wounded were being conveyed rapidly from the front and the entire hospital was astir with nurses, surgeons, and orderlies. A major, surgeon, almost staggered out of an operating room where he had been on duty for twenty-two hours and started for his quarters when a colonel arrived on an inspection trip. "Pretty busy," remarked the colonel as he acknowledged the major's salute. "Busy? Busy!" replied the major. "Good Lord, the only people about here that aren't busy are the dead ones. Even the wounded are busy planning to hobble around at conventions when the Big Show is over. Already they are talking about how they intend to take a hand in things after the war when they get home." Over across the street a sergeant, limping slightly, stopped under a shade tree and leaned against it to rest. He was almost well of his wound and eagerly awaited the word that would send him to join his regiment, the Twenty-sixth United States Infantry. As he paused under the tree another soldier with a mending wound in the knee and just able to be about stopped to speak to him. The sergeant's hand rose in quick salute for the newcomer was an officer. "Expect to get back soon, sergeant?" said the officer. "Yes sir," he replied. "Anxious to go back and get the whole job over, sir." "So am I," responded the officer. "But what will we all do when the Germans really are licked?" "Go home and start a veterans' association for the good of the country, sir," the sergeant answered. Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, then major, was the officer, and Sergeant William Patterson, later killed in action, was the enlisted man, and the institution was Base Hospital No. 2. Colonel Roosevelt, who was in the hospital convalescing from a wound in his knee caused by a machine gun bullet, told me the story and said it was the first time that he had heard the subject of a veterans' association mentioned, although he had thought of it frequently himself as an organization with boundless possibilities for good. He found later that it was being very generally discussed by men in Base Hospital No. 2, particularly those who were so badly wounded that they could not be sent to the front again and who knew they must further serve their country along peaceful lines at home. This was during war time, remember! Then came the armistice! When our victorious armies were wending their way towards the Rhine, when men of the navy and the marine corps realized that peace had come and that home was again within reach, this thought of a veterans' band, which had slumbered far back in the subconscious thoughts of all of them, burst into objectivity. An association of some sort was widely discussed not only by the men but by the officers as well. But how could even the start of it be begun? Those who considered the project most seriously were confronted with a difficulty which seemed at first to be almost insurmountable: that was the difficulty of assembling at one time and in one place a gathering which might at least approximately represent the whole army, navy, marine corps, or even the A.E.F. This difficulty tended to narrow what is believed to have been the wish of everyone when he first thought of the matter, that is the hope that it would be another Grand Army of the Republic, another United Confederate Veterans, but greater than either because representative of a United Country. Talk started then about all sorts of imagined and fancied veteran organizations. Some advocated an officers' association. This was believed to be possible because officers had more freedom and more financial ability to attend a convention. Others thought the enlisted men should perfect organizations by regiments first, then divisions, and finally form one great united body. The present leaders in the movement have since said that they realized that all of these schemes must come to naught because no organization except one on the broadest possible lines could be effective. They believed that all officers and men of the three branches of the service and all enlisted women, whether they served at home or abroad, should be eligible and urged to join one thoroughly democratic and comprehensive organization. They knew that any organization leaving out one or more elements composing the military service of the United States would be forced to compete constantly with the organization or association so discarded. In short, they knew that in union there is strength. And they believed, and still believe, that the problems of peace after a catastrophe such as was never before witnessed in history are so grave that they can be met with safety only by a national bulwark composed of the men who won the war, so closely knit, so tightly welded together in a common organization for the common good of all that no power of external or internal evil or aggression, no matter how allied or augmented, could hope even so much as to threaten our national existence, ambitions, aspirations, and pursuit of happiness, much less aim to destroy them. Don't forget that the leaders of the movement realized all this, and also remember that they include among their number the enlisted man of the A.E.F. and home army and the sailor in a shore station and on board a destroyer. The realization may not have been in so many words, but each knew he wanted to "make the world safe for democracy"—he had fought to do that and had thought out carefully what it meant, that is, that it didn't mean anything selfish—and each knew enough of the principle of union and strength to embrace the idea when "organize" first began to be mentioned. But how to do it, that was the problem. Then kind Fate in the shape of G.H.Q. came to the rescue with what proved to be the solution. G.H.Q. didn't mean to find the solution. There had been a deal of dissatisfaction with the way certain things were going in the A.E.F. and on February 15, 1919, twenty National Guard and Reserve officers serving in the A.E.F., representing the S.O.S., ten infantry divisions, and several other organizations, were ordered to report in Paris. The purpose of this gathering was to have these officers confer with certain others of the Regular Army, including the heads of train supply and Intelligence Sections of the General Staff of G.H.Q., in regard to the betterment of conditions and development of contentment in the army in France. Included in this number were Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., of the First Division, Lieutenant Colonel Franklin D'Olier of the S.O.S., and Lieutenant Colonel Eric Fisher Wood of the 88th Division. All of these officers have since told me that when they left their divisions they were distinctively permeated with the desire to form a veterans' organization of some comprehensive kind. When they got to Paris they immediately went into conference with the other officers on the questions involved in their official trip, details of which do not concern this story. What is important is the fact that Colonel Roosevelt, Colonel D'Olier, and Colonel Wood each discovered that all of the officers in this representative gathering shared with the thousands of other soldiers of the American forces the hope and desire that the officers and men who were about to return to civilian life, after serving in the great war, whether at home or with the combat units or in the S.O.S., might sooner or later be united into one permanent national organization, similar in certain respects to the Grand Army of the Republic or the United Confederate Veterans and composed of all parties, all creeds, and all ranks, who wished to perpetuate American ideals and the relationship formed while in the military and national service. When these officers realized what each was thinking they promptly set about with the "let's go" spirit of the A.E.F. to avail themselves of a God-given opportunity. A dinner was spread in the Allied Officers' Club, Rue Faubourg St. Honoré, on the night of February 16th and covers were laid for the following: Lt. Col. Francis R. Appleton, Jr., 2d Army. Lt. Col. G. Edward Buxton, 82d Div. Lt. Col. Bennett C. Clark, ex 35th Div., now with 88th Div. Lt. Col. Ralph D. Cole, 37th Div. Lt. Col. D.J. Davis, ex 28th Div., now att. G.H.Q. Lt. Col. Franklin D'Olier, Q.M., S.O.S. Col. W.J. Donovan, Rainbow Div. Lt. Col. David M. Goodrich, G.H.Q. Maj. T.E. Gowenlock, ex 1st Div., now with 1st A.C. Col. Thorndike Howe, A.P.O. Dept. Lt. Col. John Price Jackson, Peace Commission Maj. DeLancey Kountze, G.H.Q. Lt. Col. R.W. Llewellen, 28th Div. Capt. Ogden Mills, ex 6th Div., now att. G.-2, S.O.S. Lt. Col. Benjamin Moore, 82d Div. Lt. Col. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., 1st Div. Lt. Col. R.C. Stebbins, 3d A.C. Maj. R.C. Stewart, 1st Div. Lt. Col. George A. White, ex 41st Div., now att. G.H.Q. Lt. Col. Eric Fisher Wood, ex 83d Div., now with 88th Div. At that dinner the American Legion was born. Why not let this gathering—the most representative in the history of the A.E.F.— consider itself as a temporary committee to launch the movement? Why not? everyone asked himself and his neighbor over the coffee. All felt that their presence in Paris presented an unusual opportunity to initiate the first steps of such a movement, an opportunity unlikely to be repeated and one they ought not to let slip. Another meeting was suggested to consider the matter. It was held. The result was that there were several more conferences and every such gathering was more enthusiastic than its predecessor. At each of these informal conferences, some one was careful to emphasize that these self-appointed committeemen were by no means representative enough of the army or navy, nor sufficiently numerous to warrant their actually effecting an organization of any character whatsoever. Yet it was believed that, nevertheless, the gathering was representative enough to act as a temporary committee so functioning as to get together from the whole army and navy two caucuses—one to represent the troops in France, and the other those who had remained in America and who, through no fault of their own, had been denied the privilege of making history on a European battlefield. The temporary committee realized that due care must be exercised in getting these caucuses started. Every unit in the A.E.F. should be represented, if possible, at the Paris caucus, while to the one in the States, preferably to be held at St. Louis because of its central location, delegates must come from every Congressional District in the Union. Thereby would be avoided, it was urged, the mistake of giving the impression that it was a small gathering of men, unrepresentative or serving some special and selfish end. This was unanimously agreed upon and the temporary committee elected Lt. Col. Roosevelt, temporary chairman, Lt. Col. Bennett C. Clark, temporary vice-chairman, Lt. Col. Wood, temporary secretary. A sub-committee was appointed to receive from all the members of the temporary committee the names of such individuals of combat divisions and each section of the S.O.S. of the A.E.F., who were eligible and suitable to be delegates to a caucus scheduled for March 15th-16th-17th in Paris. A similar sub-committee was appointed to ascertain the names of men of the home forces in order that they might be urged to attend a caucus in America on or about May 8th-9th-10th. The work of the sub-committee of the A.E.F. was much more difficult than would appear at first glance. It was easy enough to get the names of leaders in the various outfits, both of officers and men, but to get them to Paris! That was the job. Of course it was the ardent desire of everyone that the new organization should eventually become a society principally devoted to the interests of those who served as enlisted men, for they bore the brunt of the fighting and the work and were fundamentally responsible for the splendid victory. But once the names of such men were in the committee's hands the real work had not begun. There were mechanical difficulties in securing for enlisted men in active duty leave to attend a caucus in Paris. In the first place the enlisted men themselves, as indicated by several who were consulted, were very diffident about accepting an invitation to attend a caucus where they would be required to sit beside and debate with and against generals and field officers to whom they owed military obedience. Then again, there was the expense of travel in France, as well as the high cost of living in Paris. At the outset this raised the expense of a trip to the French capital to a sum amounting to many months of an enlisted man's pay. Furthermore, the sub-committee was face to face with the A.E.F. regulations providing that except in the most unusual circumstances an enlisted man would not be granted leave except in company with a trainload of his fellows, and to a certain specified leave area. But as has been said before the conclusion had been reached that if the organization was really to become preëminently an enlisted man's outfit, it would be absolutely necessary to overcome these difficulties and by hook or crook to obtain the attendance of as many privates and noncommissioned officers as possible who were leaders. So, scarcely had seventeen of the twenty officers returned to their commands before they received an urgent appeal to help out the sub-committee of three. They were told to get enlisted delegates to Paris, never mind how, the method being of small importance provided the men were there. CHAPTER II THE PARIS CAUCUS, MARCH 15-17, 1919 The first delegates began to arrive for the caucus on March 14th. After-the-war good fellowship between those who had been commissioned officers on the one hand, and enlisted men on the other, was foreshadowed in a most interesting and striking manner when they began to come into the hotels. A dozen or more officer delegates brought with them as orderlies an equal number of delegates from the ranks. Thus enlisted personnel, by devious means, were ordered to Paris under one guise or another. One sergeant came under orders which stated that he was the bearer of important documents. He carried a despatch case wadded with waste paper. Another non-com., from a distant S.O.S. sector, had orders to report to Paris and obtain a supply of rat poison. Several wagoners, farriers, and buck privates acquired diseases of so peculiar a character that only Parisian physicians could treat them. As one of them said, he hadn't had so much fun since his office-boy days when a grandmother made a convenient demise every time Mathewson pitched. The expense of the trip was gathered in diverse ways. In some divisions the officer delegates took up collections to defray the expense of enlisted delegates. In numerous instances, enlisted men refused such assistance and took up their own collections. One amusing story was told by an enlisted man. He said that the "buddies" in his regiment had deliberately lost money to him in gambling games when he refused to be a delegate because he couldn't pay his own expenses. So by various means nearly two hundred enlisted delegates were in Paris by late afternoon on March 14th. It must not be imagined from the foregoing that all the officers arrived on special trains and were themselves in the lap of luxury. One second lieutenant who attended has since confided that he sold his safety razor and two five-pound boxes of fudge sent from home in order to get carfare to Paris. Practically all of the self-appointed, temporary committee, with the exception of Colonel Roosevelt, was present. He was Chairman of the American Committee and had left France for the purpose of organizing that part of the army and navy which did not get abroad or which had returned home. The Paris caucus convened at the American Club near the Place de la Concorde on the afternoon of March 15th, Colonel Wood presiding. Lieutenant Colonel Bennett C. Clark of the 88th Division was selected Chairman of the caucus and Lt. Col. T.W. Miller of Pennsylvania, and serving in the 79th Division, was elected Vice-Chairman. When Colonel Wood called the meeting to order nearly one thousand delegates answered the roll-call and these were of all ranks from private to brigadier general; and every combat division and all sections of the S.O.S., were represented. Colonel Wood briefly reviewed the self- appointment of the temporary committee during the previous month and outlined the purposes of the caucus. A few minutes after Colonel Clark had taken the chair an officer of high rank, a colonel to be exact, moved that while in the convention hall, the after-war status as fellow civilians be forecast and that the stations of rank would there cease to exist. It was agreed that they would be resumed with full force and full discipline as soon as the delegates crossed the threshold of the convention hall and regained the street. It was the ability of the American officer to do this—to be friendly to a certain extent with his men and yet at the same time to keep them perfectly disciplined—which amazed the officers of the armies of our Allies. No more striking example of this was ever given than within the confines of the American Club on that 15th day of March. The Colonel's motion was unanimously carried and the work of the organization began. Then generals forgot their rank, corporals engaged in hot debates with colonels, sergeants argued with majors and everybody talked with everybody else in a most boylike spirit of fraternity and equality. Captain Ogden Mills of G.H.Q. moved that four caucus committees be appointed to draft suggestions and submit them to the caucus, one committee to design machinery for convening the winter convention; one committee to submit suggestions as to a permanent organization; one committee on tentative constitution; and one committee on name. Each committee consisted of fifteen members, and was appointed by the Chairman. Here are the committees, appointed by the chair: Committee on Convention Brig. Gen. Sherburne, 26th Div., Chairman Wagoner Shaw, 88th Div., Vice-Chairman Capt. Ogden Mills, G.H.Q. Colonel Graham, S.O.S. Prvt. C.W. Ney, 1st Army Troops Captain Mahon, 77th Div. Sgt. Obrecht, 1st Army Capt. Kipling, Troops serving with French Sgt. J.C. Hendler, Paris Command Lt. Col. Appleton, 2d Army Hq. Major Gordon, 36th Div. Field Clerk Sowers, Press Section G.H.Q. Major Hungerford, 3rd Army Hq. Cpl. J.H. Anderson, Paris Command Lt. Col. Wren, 36th Division Committee of Permanent Organization Colonel Donovan, 42d Div., Chairman Lt. Col. Graham, 88th Div., Vice-Chairman Capt. Boyd, 29th Division Sgt. Tip Bliss, Stars and Stripes Lt. Col. Fitzpatrick, 35th Division Sgt. Rollo S. Thorpe, 88th Div. Lt. Col. Crosby, S.O.S. Pvt. W.L. Thompson, 11th R.R. Engineers Major Graff, 28th Division Major Barry Wright, 79th Division Sgt. Rommel, Paris Command Sgt. V.V. Trout, Paris Command Capt. Carlstrom, S.O.S. Major R.C. Patterson, Peace Commission Lt. Col. Smith, 89th Division Committee On Name Lt. Col. Robbins, 2d Army Hq. Chairman Lt. Col. Goodrich, G.H.Q., Vice-Chairman Sgt. Dolan, 89th Division Lt. Col. Stebbins, 3rd Army Corps Sgt. H.E. Fleming, 35th Division Major E.S. Haile, 77th Div. Colonel Gibbs, S.O.S. Sgt. McElow, Paris Command Major Horace Rumsey, 35th Division Sgt. C.E. Sommers, Paris Command Major D.D. Drain, 3d Army Sgt. G.F. Fleming, Paris Command Lt. Markoe, 2d Army Major Dwight, S.O.S. Sgt. Barnard, Paris Command The names of these committees are given because they are more than just names. They show the first bubbles of the melting pot into which all rank and titles in the American Army have been cast and out of which comes the one word "Comrade." There were three outstanding features of the Paris caucus which were evident by midnight of March 15th. The first was the desire to get together and form an organization quickly and a willingness to forego personal prejudice and opinion to arrive at that end. The second was the determination to make the man who didn't get across as much a component part of the legion as his more fortunate brother-in-arms; while the third was the avowed intention to take no action at the caucus which could be deferred until the winter convention in America, when the home brother and the navy could be jointly represented and a permanent organization could be effected. I say that these things were evident by midnight of March 15th for those who have attended many conventions know that from the casual word heard here and there, the whispered conference of a few leaders, and from the general tenor of discussions carried on by delegates gathered together in little groups, the spirit of the body politic is most perceptible. After the adjournment of the afternoon session on that day, members of the committees closeted themselves and started work on their special functions, while those who were to pass on the committee's actions, the "hoi polloi" were here and there in groups, in the "Y" huts or in boulevard cafes discussing the real meaning of the gathering. A colonel in the Officers' Club said there must be no disagreement on this or that question; a private in the Bal Tabarin told his buddies the same thing. And so it came to pass that on the following day in the Cirque de Paris, where the final meetings were held, the delegates formally gathered, sensed the gossip of the clubs and boulevards, and acted accordingly. One of the things done was to endorse the action of the temporary committee in appointing itself and in calling the caucus. Another was to adopt a tentative constitution. It is in reality little more than a preamble, but it gave a working basis, expressing enough and yet not too much. Newspaper men have told me that the Sermon on the Mount is the finest bit of reporting in the history of writing because it tells a long story succinctly. Lieutenant Colonel Buxton and his committee on constitutions are certainly entitled to credit of the same type—for they tell a great deal in a few lines. Henry D. Lindsley Temporary Chairman, who presided at St. Louis The Paris Caucus This gathering had no time for official photographers. A half hour before a session began one slipped in and took this picture with more than half the caucus delegates absent Here's the tentative constitution under which the Legion worked—it was read by Lieutenant Colonel Bolles: "We, the members of the Military and Naval Service of the United States of America in the great war, desiring to perpetuate the principles of Justice, Freedom, and Democracy for which we have fought, to inculcate the duty and obligation of the citizen to the State; to preserve the history and incidents of our participation in the war; and to cement the ties of comradeship formed in service, do propose to found and establish an association for the furtherance of the foregoing purposes: "Those eligible to membership shall be: All officers and enlisted personnel in the Military and Naval Services of the United States of America at any time during the period from April 6, 1917, to November 11, 1918, inclusive; excepting however, persons leaving the service without an honorable discharge or persons who having been called into the service refused, failed, or attempted to evade the full performance of such service. "The society shall consist of a national organization with subsidiary branches; one for each State, territory, and foreign possession of the United States as well as one in each foreign country where members of the national society may be resident and who desire to associate themselves together. "The officers of the society shall be a President, one or more Vice-Presidents, a Secretary, a Treasurer and a Board of Directors, which shall consist of the President, the Vice-Presidents, together with the chief executive of each subsidiary branch. "The subsidiary branches shall organize and govern themselves in such manner as the membership of such subsidiary organizations shall determine upon except that the requirements and purposes of the permanent national constitution as adopted shall be complied with. "The representation shall be on the basis of the actual enrollment in the subsidiary branches at all conventions after the adoption of a permanent constitution. "Members present at the meeting of this committee as follows: "Lt. Col. G. Edward Buxton, Jr., Chairman "Lt. Col. T.W. Miller, Secretary "Major Redmond C. Stewart "Col. E.A. Gibbs "Lt. Col. W.H. Curtiss "Major J. Hall "Col. C.L. Ristine." There were many, many men in the A.E.F. respected and beloved, but none perhaps more than he who seconded a motion made by a private from S.O.S. base section, No. 4, that the constitution be adopted. The seconder asked to speak on the question. When he began he got the rapt attention which Bishop Brent, Senior Chaplain of the A.E.F., always won whether he talked to buck privates knee deep in trench water or the King in Buckingham Palace. "It was a great soldier who said that the army has not merely a body but a soul and a conscience as well," he began. "I believe the conscience of the army is speaking in this committee's report. I believe the army's soul is speaking in it. I was present on Saturday, at the beginning of this caucus and I will tell you frankly that I was fearful at that moment lest you should create a great mechanism without adequate purposes. My fears have been wholly allayed and I see in the report of your committee the ideals not only of the army but of the nation adequately expressed and I wish to tell you gentlemen that so far as I have any ability to promote this great movement I give you my most hearty support. I believe that the army of to-day, when it goes back to citizen thinking and citizen acting, will be capable of contributing to the commonwealth of the United States so as to change the character of the whole country and lift it up to a higher plane of political, industrial, and religious life. I happen to be at this moment leading in a movement in the army to promote the various ends that are so well expressed in the committee's report, in what is known as the 'Comrades in Service.' There are two ways of creating an organization; one is by forming the principles and leaving the body to take its own shape; the other by creating a machinery without stating your end and reach that end through the machinery. According to our democratic conception we have adopted the former or idealistic method. We are prepared to contribute to this army wide organization which is now brought into existence, all that we have to contribute. We are entirely loyal to your principles and methods of approach and we are quite willing to forego any attempt to make an organization which might become a rival to you. Between now and the time of demobilization there is a great opportunity for us to promote the principles which actuate you. We have already a temporary and provisional organization for the promotion of such principles; the creation of better citizenship along the lines so well expressed. We would like everyone who can to give support to that which we are endeavoring to do, while we ask all who come in with us to be prepared to throw in their lot with this organization when it is perfected in the United States." "The creation of better citizenship," Bishop Brent says. He wants every one who can, to give support to that; to "what we are trying to do." If everyone could see just that in the Legion, if everyone will work for just that—better citizenship—the Legion's aim will be realized in its deepest and truest sense. Bishop Brent has a knack of hitting the nail on the head with such force that the sparks fly and by their light comes insight—ask anyone from out Manila-way if it isn't so. The short address was greeted with thunderous applause. The newly born Legion knew it had a champion and a worker in the Bishop. Col. Wm. J. Donovan of the 165th Infantry, Forty-second Division headed the committee of fifteen which gave the final report on resolutions and organization. This report is reproduced here in full because it presaged the action of the American caucus and brought about the form of the Legion Government until November. "Resolved: That an Executive Committee shall be selected, two (2) from each unit (as recognized in this caucus) and eight (8) to be selected by the Executive Committee; the two members, one officer and one enlisted man, to be selected from each unit to be named by the respective delegations attending this caucus. Each unit shall present the names of committeemen who shall as far as possible represent, in point of residence, each State, Territory and possession of the United States and the District of Columbia. "This Executive Committee shall have general power to represent the units now in foreign service, to determine its own quorum, to confer with committees from a similar caucus in the United States, to secure one general convention of persons entitled to membership under the tentative constitution, to elect its officers and appoint such sub-committees and give them such powers as may be proper and necessary. "This Executive Committee acting in conjunction with the committee of the United States is specifically charged with the duty of fixing a date and place for holding a national convention, issuing a call for the holding of county and State conventions and providing a unit of representation and method of selection of delegates to the national convention, by the State conventions. "The powers of this committee shall expire upon the organization of the permanent national convention. "The committee is further charged with the duty of making known the existence and purpose of this organization, of stimulating interest in it, and of inviting the support of all those entitled to membership. "No policy except in furtherance of the creation of a permanent organization having in mind the desirability of unity of action in organizing all the American forces shall be adopted or carried out by the committees. A meeting for the temporary and preliminary organization of the Executive Committee shall be held at this place immediately upon the adjournment of this caucus. The Executive Committee may receive and add to its number two representatives from any division or equivalent unit not represented at this caucus." As the result of the passage of this report it is interesting to note the personnel of the Executive Committee which the delegates selected and which is controlling the American Legion of the A.E.F., observing especially the large number of enlisted men; large in view of the difficulties experienced in getting such men to Paris. 1st Div., Capt. Arthur S. Hyde 2d Div., Lt. Col Harold C. Snyder 26th Div., Sgt. Wheaton Freeman 26th Div., Lt. Col. Wm. J. Keville 27th Div., Lt. Col. Edward E. Gauche, N.Y. 27th Div., Reg. Sgt. Mjr. Samuel A. Ritchie, N.Y. 28th Div., Brig Gen. Wm. G. Brice, Jr., Penn. 28th Div., Sgt. Ted Myers, Penn. 29th Div., Lt. Col. Orison M. Hurd, N.J. 29th Div., Color Sgt. Andreas Z. Holley, Maryland 31st Div., Captain Leon Schwarz, Ala. 33d Div., Col. Milton A. Foreman, Ill. 35th Div., Lt. Col. B.C. Clark, Mo. 35th Div., Sgt. Fred Heney, Kans. 36th Div., Col. Chas. W. Nimon, Texas 36th Div., Sgt. Mjr. L.H. Evridge, Texas 41st Div., Col. Frank White, N. Dak. 42d Div., Col. Henry J. Reilly, Ill. 42d Div., Sgt. Rowe, Iowa 77th Div., Major Duncan Harris 77th Div., Sgt. Lawrence Miller, N.Y. 79th Div., Lt. Col. Stuart S. Janney, Md. 79th Div., Sgt. Benjamin R. Kauffman, Pa. 80th Div., Capt. Arthur F. Shaw, Mich. 81st Div., Major Theodore G. Tilghman, N.C. 81st Div., Reg. Sgt. Mjr. Wm. S. Beam, N.C. 82d Div., Capt. Frank S. Williams, Fla. 82d Div., Sgt. Alvin T. York, Tenn. 83d Div., Lt. Col. Wayman C. Lawrence, Jr., W. Va. 83d Div., Cpl. Thoyer 86th Div., Major John H. Smale, Ill. 88th Div., Lt. Col. George C. Parsons, Minn. 88th Div., Wagoner Dale J. Shaw, Iowa. 89th Div., Lt. Col. Frank Wilbur Smith, Pa. 91st Div., Lt. Col. John Guy Strohm, Oregon 91st Div., Sgt. Mjr. Hercovitz, Calif. S.O.S. Hq., Col. James H. Graham, Conn. Adv. Sec., S.O.S. Capt. David A. Uaurier, Wash. Base Sec. No. 1, S.O.S., Pvt. W.L. Thompson, N.Y. Base Sec. No. 3, S.O.S., Lt. Col. Carle Abrams, Oregon Base Sec. No. 5, S.O.S., Major Orlin Hudson, Kans. Base Sec. No. 6, S.O.S., Major Arthur S. Dwight, N.Y. Troops with French, Sgt. L.K. Flynt, Mass. Troops with French, Capt. A.W. Kipling, Paris, France Paris Command, Pvt. Harold W. Ross, Calif. Paris Command, Lt. Col. John Price Jackson G.H.Q., Bishop Charles H. Brent, N.Y. 1st Army Corps, Lt. Col. Lemuel L. Bolles, Wash. 1st Army Corps, Sgt. Mjr. Race 2d Army Hq., Lt. Col. Burke H. Sinclair, Colo. The tentative name of this organization was not adopted without a great deal of discussion. All sorts of titles were suggested to the committee which considered the matter. Some of them were: Comrades of the Great War Veterans of the Great War Liberty League Army of the Great War Legion of the Great War Great War Legion The Legion The American Comrades of the Great War The Great Legion The American Legion The last was tentatively decided upon as the best name although there was considerable discussion on it. This discussion waxed particularly warm between a colonel and a corporal and it came to an end only when some hungry enlisted delegate braved the officer's rising ire to move an adjournment for lunch. The motion carried immediately and, true to the understanding made at the outset in regard to rank, the corporal clicked his heels together, stood at attention and saluted the colonel, when the latter passed him on the sidewalk exactly five minutes after he had been telling the colonel precisely what he thought of him and his opinions—at least as far as the name of the Veteran's Organization was concerned. I might add that this colonel was well under thirty-five years of age and that the corporal was only twenty-one. And this brings to mind another striking feature of this most unusual gathering, which was the comparative youth of its membership. For instance the two individuals who have taken from the beginning the leading parts in the movement, Bennett Clark, son of Champ Clark and a Lieutenant Colonel of infantry, and Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., son of the ex-president and also a Colonel of infantry. They are respectively twenty-nine and thirty-one years of age, and one of the most brilliant speeches in the caucus was made by a captain of twenty- six. It must not be understood from this rather dry recital of what took place at the Paris Caucus, this record of minutes and resolutions, that it was an entirely sedate and dignified gathering. On the contrary, Young America was there and quite often the impression which one gathered was that a dozen or so Big Brothers had been turned loose at once. A great many wild speeches were made and all sorts of ticklish questions were brought up. Chairman Clark broke two gavels and three times overturned his table. Everyone there was young. Peace was young. Few knew exactly, like Bishop Brent, just what was wanted. The whole project was new. Dozens of delegates wanted to speak; it was their first chance since April 6, 1917. In fact one man made two very violent speeches on the same subject, one in direct opposition to the other. He realized he was making a heated argument for both sides and finally sat down laughing about it. Who was he? Who was the colonel who got wrought up over the proposed name? Who were the lieutenants, and who were any of these privates, captains, and sergeants? "I don't know." Nobody knows. Doubtless they have themselves forgotten what they said. No verbatim records are available now. In fact I am told that no record could have been kept, for many times two or three were speaking at once and the chairman was breaking the third commandment with his gavel. But this much everyone wanted, "A Veteran's Organization." This much everyone swore he would have, one that was neither political nor partisan, one that would perpetuate righteousness, insure "honor, faith, and a sure intent," and despite whatever bickering there might have been, despite whatever differences of opinion arose, when, with a tremendous "Aye," the motion to adjourn was carried, this Paris Caucus had accomplished a body politic and a soul of the type which Bishop Brent so clearly described. To resume the story of actual accomplishment. The Executive Committee was given general power to represent the units in France, to confer with committees or representatives of the American Caucus as soon as these should be appointed, and, in conjunction with the latter, to issue a call for the holding of county and State conventions and providing a unit of representation and method of selection of delegates to one general convention for the autumn of 1919, preferably November 11th, or Armistice Day. The Executive Committee met immediately after the adjournment of the caucus and elected Colonel Foreman of the Thirty-third Division, Chairman; Lt. Colonel George A. White, Forty-first Division, Secretary and Major R.C. Patterson, Paris Command, Assistant Secretary. Lt. Col. White, Col. Wood, Major R.C. Patterson, and Lt. L.R. Farrell were elected permanent members at large of the Executive Committee. Then from this executive committee a committee of fifteen was chosen for the purpose of expediting the work which had been assigned to the larger committee, it being easier to assemble fifteen men than the larger number. The committee of fifteen elected Col. Bennett Clark as its chairman. At the first meeting of the committee of fifteen a hope was expressed that the caucus in America would take similar action in the appointment of an executive committee, which would in turn delegate its authority to a smaller committee for working purposes. Just exactly how this worked out, is later described. 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 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. At first the army and navy men were inclined to say, "Here is another of those mushroom Veteran's Associations bobbing up." In fact I heard one officer make just that remark, but another was quick to correct him by saying, "Its bound to be a straight and honest organization or a Roosevelt wouldn't stand for it." That was the crux of the initial success of the Legion, because just that was true. Every man who wore the uniform had known Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., and although he may not have agreed with him in all of his political opinions still he knew that neither he nor any member of his family would back any organization or proposition that was not morally sterling. 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...