Veterans Affairs & Rehabilitation

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The American Legion was founded by veterans to help veterans after their discharge from military service. Within this pillar can be found American Legion services and programs, such as:

• Accredited Veteran’s Service Offices
• Advocacy & Stakeholder Oversight of the VA Health-care system
• GI Bill Education Benefits
• Volunteer Veteran Service Officers
• Career Services, job fairs, & military transition support
• Support and help for homeless veterans
• Mentorship and help with Veterans Court
• Honor Guard Services for funerals of Veterans

The arrival of The American Legion's National Security Commission coincided with the creation of the Department of Defense and the departments of the Army, Navy and Air Force:

•  A well-funded, well-equipped and well-trained military
•  Awareness and surveillance of rogue nations, terrorist groups and global threats to U.S. security around the world 
• Support for the Department of Homeland Security, and protection of U.S. borders, ports and other points of access 
• Comprehensive disaster preparedness 
• Quality of life issues for troops and their families – active-duty and reserve– including compensation, benefits, health care, childcare and family-support programs, and an efficient and compassionate healing and transition program for wounded and ill warriors 
• Transition assistance for personnel moving from the military to VA health-care systems, including discharge review, medical and physical evaluation board advocacy, representation during the medical discharge process, employment counseling, education benefits and training
• Support for military retiree benefits, including TRICARE and TRICARE For Life
• Collaboration with DoD and VA to provide wounded warrior's local support  

Americanism is, quite simply, love of America – loyalty to its ideals and institutions, allegiance to its flag, willingness to defend it against all enemies foreign and domestic and a desire to pass along the blessings of liberty to future generations. According to The American Legion's Americanism Manual, "It is not a word. It is a cause, a way of life – the best way of life ever known. “

• U.S. Flag Protocol and Protection
• Illegal Immigration
• Voter Registration and Participation
• Boy Scouts of America
• The Pledge of Allegiance
• Establishment Clause Lawsuits  

The Americanism Commission

• American Legion Baseball
• Boys Nation and Boys State
• The National High School Oratorical Competition
• Junior Law Cadet
• American Legion Junior Shooting Sports
• Legacy Scholarship Fund
• Eagle Scout of the Year Scholarship
• Samsung American Legion Scholarship
• “Need a Lift” financial aid guide
• Flag Education
• School Medal Awards

The American Legion's National Commission on Children & Youth 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. 

• Temporary Financial Assistance
• Family Support Network
• Child Welfare Foundation.
• Child Pornography. The Legion opposes any attempts to weaken U.S. laws governing production, sale and distribution of materials.
• Catastrophic Illness. The American Legion supports legislation to provide financial assistance to families with children who suffer catastrophic illnesses.
• Intellectual Disabilities. The Legion supports research, and early intervention efforts, to prevent intellectual disabilities, to include research on the development and function of the nervous system, fetal treatments, and gene therapy.
• Immunization for Needy Children. The Legion urges federal funding for state and local health agencies to insure that medically indigent children are afforded the opportunity to receive needed vaccines and treatment.
• Family Integrity. The Legion promotes the family as the cornerstone of society and supports National Family Week each November. The Legion further recognizes that the natural family is a fundamental unit, inscribed in human nature and centered on the voluntary union of a man and woman in a lifelong covenant of marriage.
• Media Violence. The American Legion supports appropriate state and federal legislation to restrict the excessive use of violence, vulgarity and immoral expressions in movies, television programs, news broadcasts, video games and the Internet.
• Drug Abuse. The American Legion fully supports adequate funding for border, state, federal and military drug-trafficking prevention programs to keep illegal substances from reaching our nation's youth.
• Child Sexual Exploitation. The Legion supports appropriate laws aimed at the prevention, investigation and prosecution of child sexual exploitation, and seeks to empower the public to take urgent and direct action to enforce a zero-tolerance policy.