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INDIANAPOLIS (August 2, 2007) –The nation’s largest veterans organization today announced that country music artist Michael Peterson will serve as the national spokesman for The American Legion Legacy Scholarship Fund.
“Michael Peterson is a staunch supporter of this cause,” said National Commander Paul A. Morin. “I am delighted that he has agreed to champion this great program that benefits the children of our fallen heroes.”
The American Legion Legacy Scholarship Fund provides college scholarships for children of military personnel killed on duty since Sept. 11, 2001. Peterson has pledged that 50 percent of the profits of his upcoming DVD, “It’s Who We Are,” will go to the fund.
“When it started off, it was just a song, ‘It’s Who We Are,” written for The American Legion National Convention last year,” Peterson said. “After I recorded the song this spring, I saw it move a lot of folks to tears. I wanted to help more people understand and appreciate the immeasurable contribution of The American Legion and so the vision grew beyond just a music video. Simply by hitting ‘play,’ any viewer will gain a broader understanding, in a way that’s highly inviting, of what’s going on with The American Legion. Our goal was to be entertaining, inspirational and highly informational. That was the target, and I think we accomplished that in a way that’s also connected to a higher purpose: raising awareness, recruiting and raising funds for The American Legion Legacy Scholarship.”
The million selling Peterson, whose hits “From Here to Eternity,” “Drink Swear Steal & Lie” and “Too Good To Be True” reached number one on the charts, will be at The American Legion’s 89th National Convention in Reno, held Aug. 24-30. He will be promoting The American Legion Legacy Scholarship Fund and “It’s Who We Are.”
The “It’s Who We Are” DVD includes interviews with celebrities and Legionnaires, along with public service announcements about The American Legion Legacy Scholarship Fund. It will be available for purchase on August 15 on The American Legion’s website, http://www.legion.org/, and by calling 1-866 539-2509. They can also be purchased by sending a check for $12.00 each, which includes shipping and handling, to The American Legion, American Legion Legacy Scholarship Fund, Michael Peterson DVD, PO Box 1055, Indianapolis, Indiana, 46206.
With a current membership of 2.7-million wartime veterans, The American Legion was founded in 1919 on the four pillars of a strong national security, veterans affairs, Americanism, and patriotic youth programs. Legionnaires work for the betterment of their communities through more than 14,000 posts across the nation.
Contact: Joe March or John Raughter (317) 630-1253.
Comments (4)
i would like to know if you give Students of active Miitary a Scholarship to go to school , oe tradeschool , we sure could use it , thank you ,
Grandmother of a needy Student
Posted by dorothy croyle | 08/07/07 11:56 AM |
Ms. Croyle,
I am unaware of any national American Legion scholarship program for living active military. You may wish to try your local Legion post. The National Headquarters, as indicated in the above article, is instead focusing on the children of the fallen. The American Legion, however, has been lobbying hard for improved GI Bill Benefits, which would apply to those still on duty, as well as those who already served. Your grandchild should talk to the education officer at his or her command to ensure that they receive all the tuition benefits that are currently available.
Posted by Jack | 08/17/07 11:44 AM |
Many scholarships are available through the American Legion Auxiliary and American Legion...our National American Legion Auxiliary President, Jan Pulvermacher-Ryan has chosen as her special project "Educating Children of Warriors" AND she is teaming up with "TAPS Good Grief Camps" (for children who have lost a loved one serving in our military). All proceeds of the American Legion Auxiliary's DC at The Wall Healing Field (which will be November 9-11, 2007 on the Mall by the Vietnam Wall Memorial) will be shared between these two wonderful projects. Please go to: www.healingfield.org to learn more and click on the DC Event on the Home Page to learn more. Co-Chairmen of this event are Marcia Wheatley of Virginia (703-625-6112) and Bonnie Lamson of Maryland (301-471-2972); you may contact either of them also. If you contact a local post, they should be able to provide you with a Need A Lift book that has tons (and I do mean tons) of scholarships.
You can also call me: Cindy Kokernak, 540-635-6171. I will be working at The Wall over Veteran's Day Weekend with Marcia and Bonnie and will do whatever I can to get you the information you need.
God Bless Our Veterans!
Posted by Cindy Kokernak | 10/16/07 7:26 PM |
To all the Grandparents of all branches of the service. Scholarships are available if you look for them by: Branch of service, units the the service member was attached to for any length of time, or even special duty such as Recruiting Duty or Drill Instructor Duty. I for one have found them and my son has since completed ACU, and is currently attending K-State with help from these programs along with others. Hope this helps sombody somewhere! Semper Fi.
Posted by Robert Bell | 03/22/08 4:21 PM |