Preamble to the Constitution of The American Legion

              For God and Country

                       We associate ourselves together for the following purposes:

                 To uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of
                  America; to maintain law and order;

                  To foster and perpetuate a one hundred percent Americanism;

              To preserve the memories and incidents of our
                     associations in the great wars;

                  To inculcate a sense of individual obligation to the community,                state and nation;

                To combat the autocracy of both the classes and the masses;

                  To make right the master of might; to promote peace and
                   goodwill on earth;

              To safeguard and transmit to posterity the principles of
               justice, freedom and democracy;

           To consecrate and sanctify our comradeship by our devotion
                 to mutual helpfulness.

          The American Legion was chartered by Congress in 1919 as a patriotic,
          mutual-help, war-time veterans organization. A community-service
          organization which now numbers nearly three million members, men and
          women, in nearly 15,000 American Legion Posts worldwide. These Posts are
          organized into 55 Departments - - one each for the 50 states, the District of
          Columbia, Puerto Rico, France, Mexico, and the Philippines.