The Mission of the Sons of The American Legion:
The American Legion was chartered and incorporated by Congress in 1919 as a patriotic veterans organization devoted to mutual helpfulness. It is the nation’s largest wartime veterans service organization, committed to mentoring youth and sponsorship of wholesome programs in our communities, advocating patriotism and honor, promoting strong national security, and continued devotion to our fellow service members and veterans.
Who we Are and What We Do
The Sons of The American Legion was created in 1932 as an organization within The American Legion. The S.A.L. is made up of men of all ages whose parents or grandparents served in the United States military and became eligible for membership in The American Legion. Together, members of The American Legion, the American Legion Auxiliary and the Sons of The American Legion make up what is known as The American Legion Family.
All three organizations place high importance on preserving our American traditions and values, improving the quality of life for our nation’s children, caring for veterans and their families, and perhaps most importantly, teaching the fundamentals of good citizenship. Sons have always assisted Legionnaires with Legion Family programs. Our Family boasts a combined total membership of nearly 4.2 million members. This year, Sons attained an all time high national membership of over 365,000.
Just as each Legion post determines the extent of its service to the community, state, and nation, each S.A.L. squadron is permitted flexibility in planning programs and activities to meet its own needs. The S.A.L. has study programs recommended for younger members. One such program, called “The Ten Ideals”, teaches the elements of patriotism, health, knowledge, training, honor, faith, helpfulness, courtesy, reverence, and comradeship. If a member completes the Ten Ideals program, he is eligible to continue with another program called the “Five-Point Program of Service”. This program covers patriotism, citizenship, discipline, leadership, and more.
Sons focus on much more than just membership. At all levels, Sons support The American Legion in promoting a wide variety of programs. Sons assist their posts in other activities such as Veterans programs, Veterans Administration home and hospital volunteerism, Children Youth projects and fundraising. Since 1988, The Sons have raised more than $6.9 million for The American Legion Child Welfare Foundation. Members have volunteered over 1.3 million hours to date in Veterans Hospitals throughout the country and raised over $2,500,000 that has gone directly to VA hospitals and VA homes for a variety of items including TVs, radios, medical equipment and clothing for the patients.
There are many men who are members of both The American Legion and the Sons of The American Legion. Often, these individuals started out as young members of the Sons, then when they were old enough to serve the military, they also became eligible to join The Legion. Such individuals are known within our organization as “dual members.”
Commissions & Committees
Americanism – is an unfailing love of country, loyalty to its institutions and ideals, eagerness to defend it against all enemies, individual allegiance to the flag, and a desire to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. Americanism programs include: the High School Oratorical competition, Junior Shooting Sports Program, Boys State, American Legion Baseball, Boy Scouts – including The American Legion Eagle Scout of the Year Award and The American Legion Scouting Square Knot Award – have helped thousands reach their potential by building physical, mental and moral alertness, while cultivating strong character and civic responsibility.
Children and Youth – Committee is guided by three main objectives: to strengthen the family unit, work with quality organizations that provide services for children and provide communities with well-rounded programs that meet the needs of young people. Children and Youth activities include: The American Legion Child Welfare Foundation, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, Josh Dogs, Special Olympics, and Operation Military Kids.
Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation – Committee actively advocates for, and exercises independent oversight over, hundreds of benefits, programs and opportunities that aim to compensate and care for U.S. military veterans and their dependents. Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation activities include: volunteering at a VA Hospital, Operation Comfort Warriors, serving as a VAVS Representative, supporting a Fisher House, Support For The Troops, and Family Support Network.
Child Welfare Foundation and Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals – Committee is focused on informing the membership on ways to raise funds for Children’s Miracle Network Hospital and the American Legion Child Welfare Foundation. The American Legion Child Welfare Foundation is the Hallmark program for the Sons Of The American Legion. The Sons have raised over $9 million to date for the Child Welfare Foundation. The Child Welfare Foundation’s main purpose is ‘To Provide for the Betterment of all Children.’ Child Welfare Foundation does this through awarding grants to nonprofit organizations focused on Children.
Legislative – Committee’s focus is to promote the legislative mandates of the Legion before Congress. These mandates are dictated by resolutions adopted at a national convention or any meeting of the National Executive Committee. Neither the Legislative Commission nor its staff can make policy decisions. The Sons Legislative Committee works to support the Legislative priorities established by the American Legion by attending Day On The Hill in Richmond, in January of each year, and attending the Washington Conference in Washington DC each year.
Media and Communications – Committee communicates the organizational image, goals, programs and legislative positions of the Sons of The American Legion locally, to the state, and the public. Public Relations tools can be downloaded online at www.legion.org or https://www.legion.org/prtoolkit and are also available in print. A wide array of media tools, including regularly updated suggested speeches for patriotic holidays, the Public Relations Handbook, event-planning guides, and various Legion information-campaign kits, as well as radio and TV public-service announcements are available online.
https://www.legion.org/publications/160968/public-relations-toolkit
Homeland Security and Civil Preparedness – Committee focuses on supporting our local communities in the event of a natural disaster. It focuses on programs to prepare the local community in what to do in the event of a Natural Disaster. This committee is relatively new to the Sons Organization. Links to the CERT Program are included in this website.
Membership – focuses on recruiting new members to the Sons of The American Legion and retaining our existing members. It also focuses on ways to motivate the membership to take a more active role in our organization. There are awards for members in the Detachment who recruit three or more members as well as a National Recruiting Award for Sons Members who recruit 5 or more new members.