The American Legion Family

Together, members of The American Legion, The American Legion Auxiliary, and the Sons of The American Legion make up what is known as The 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.

The American Legion

The American Legion was chartered by Congress in 1919 as a patriotic, war-time veterans' organization, devoted to mutual helpfulness. It is a community-service organization which now numbers nearly 3 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. The American Legion's national headquarters is in Indianapolis, with additional offices in Washington, DC. In addition to thousands of volunteers serving in leadership and program implementation capacities in local communities and the Legion's standing national commissions and committees, the national organization has a regular full-time staff of about 255 employees.

The American Legion Auxiliary

The American Legion Auxiliary (ALA) is a U.S.-headquartered patriotic service organization for women interested in voluntary service. It is a non-profit organization, affiliated with The American Legion (a veterans' service organization). There are nearly one million Auxiliary members in 10,100 communities across the world.

The American Legion Auxiliary is an organization with dedicated, empowered women across the world, who are devoted to America's veterans (current and past) and children and youth, with the notion of inspiring Auxiliary members' communities. The American Legion Auxiliary is responsible for programs such as: Girls State, Girls Nation, Freedoms Foundation, educational scholarships and is a national co-sponsor of the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival.

The Sons of The American Legion

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 287,000. 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, youth projects, and fund raising. In just the past ten years, Sons have raised more than a million dollars for The American Legion Child Welfare Foundation. In 2004, S.A.L. members volunteered over 211,150 hours in 2004 in Veterans Hospitals throughout the country and raised over $1,454,000 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.” The Sons of The American Legion is one of many organizations that sponsors and supports the Citizens Flag Alliance, a coalition formed to secure flag protection legislation through an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. S.A.L. volunteers work to establish local networks by having petitions available and handing out informational material. They alert their communities to the importance of respect for the flag and they encourage flag education programs in schools and other local organizations.