1940s

Aug. 22, 1941
The U.S. Navy commissions the USS American Legion, and her World War II career begins, including landing some of the first troops at Guadalcanal, supplying a hospital, conducting rescue missions and training exercises.

Dec. 7, 1941
Japan’s attack at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, brings the United States into World War II. Soon, more than 150,000 members of The American Legion (World War I veterans and career officers) return to wartime service. In addition, nearly 400,000 Legionnaires serve as air-raid wardens, 300,000 as volunteer police officers and 50,000 as volunteer firefighters to fill wartime needs in their communities.

May 1, 1942
The American Legion Blood Donor Program is established.

June 22, 1942
Congress passes U.S. Flag Code, adapted from the rules of flag respect established at the Legion-led flag conferences of 1923 and 1924.

Sept. 19-21, 1942
The Preamble to the Constitution of The American Legion is changed for the first time since it was written in 1919.  The word “war” is changed to “wars,” and “association” to “associations.”

Dec. 15, 1943
Past National Commander Harry W. Colmery starts to write in longhand, on Mayflower Hotel stationery in Washington, the first draft of what will later become the “GI Bill of Rights”– considered the Legion’s single greatest legislative achievement.

June 22, 1944
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs into law the original GI Bill, or Servicemen’s Readjustment Act, ushering in monumental changes in U.S. society. Higher education becomes democratized after more than 8 million veterans go to school on the GI Bill, get better jobs, buy houses, finance businesses and raise families. For every dollar spent on educating veterans, the U.S. economy eventually gets $7 back.

June 27, 1944
The American Legion-backed Veterans Preference Hiring Act is signed into law.

April 8, 1946
Gen. Omar Bradley, head of the Veterans Administration, establishes an advisory council, led by The American Legion, American Legion Auxiliary and Veterans of Foreign Wars to develop a massive new volunteer network for VA health-care facilities, which becomes the VA Volunteer Service (VAVS). 

May 29, 1946
The Legion and the American Legion Auxiliary present a small, struggling organization called the American Heart Association with a $50,000 grant. The grant inaugurates a nationwide program for the study, prevention and treatment of rheumatic heart disease.

Aug. 9, 1946
The American Legion Boys Forum of National Government, later renamed American Legion Boys Nation, is conducted for the first time at American University in Washington, D.C.