BY NATIONAL COMMANDER MARTY CONATSER
In his book “Making the Corps,” former Wall Street Journal correspondent Thomas E. Ricks describes a night patrol he went on in Somalia led by a young Marine. “As we walked in single file, with red and green tracer fire arcing across the black sky over the city, I realized that I had placed my life in the hands of the young corporal leading the patrol, a 22-year-old Marine. In my office back in Washington, we wouldn’t let a 22-year-old run the copying machine without adult supervision. Here, after just two days on the ground in Africa, the corporal was leading his squad into unknown territory, with a confidence that was contagious.”
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INDIANAPOLIS (February 25, 2008) – Congress should put America’s national security ahead of frivolous lawsuits, American Legion National Commander Marty Conatser said today. The head of the nation’s largest veterans organization sent a letter to members of the House of Representatives, urging them to pass an important intelligence-gathering law immediately.
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"Osama bin Laden couldn't have said it better," American Legion National Commander Marty Conatser said of the Berkeley City Council Resolution, which tells the Marines that they are not welcome there.
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Photo by James V. Carroll |
By National Commander Marty Conatser
A college senior from Michigan will soon spend another winter break without his father, a staff sergeant whose life was taken in a mortar attack in Baqubah, Iraq, on Christmas Day 2003.
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DoD Photo by Staff Sgt. Justin Holley |
(This statement by National Commander Marty Conatser issued through the Washington Office, via Hanoi, while Commander Conatser is discussing POW/MIA issue with the government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam).
WASHINGTON, DC (November 29, 2007) Following the Army’s announcement yesterday that it must prepare for reduced operations at all Army bases due to a lack of appropriations necessary to perform its war-fighting and strategic functions, The American Legion called on Congress to immediately pass the Emergency Supplemental Funding needed to support the Global War on Terrorism.
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By Marty Conatser
Members of Congress returned to their home states and districts throughout America last weekend to pay tribute to the men and women who have served our nation in uniform. They stood among aging veterans whose blood was spilled across the shores of Iwo Jima and Omaha Beach. They looked into the eyes of men who nearly froze to death at the Chosin Reservoir. They stood behind podiums at war memorials across the land and addressed crowds of men and women - some in wheelchairs, some with post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury - who left part of themselves forever in the jungles and deserts of places like Vietnam, Grenada, Beirut, Afghanistan and Iraq.
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By Marty Conatser, National Commander of The American Legion
As leader of the world’s largest veterans organization, I often have the privilege of meeting some important people. No, I am not referring to our elected officials, business leaders or celebrities. I am speaking of the members of the U.S. military.
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Last summer, American Legion National Commander Paul A. Morin gave me an opportunity that will guide not only my own year as national commander but the rest of my life. He gave me the opportunity to visit our troops at war in Iraq. There, I gained invaluable firsthand insight into the biggest issue facing the world today, and I discovered firsthand how The American Legion is impacting it.
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National Commander Marty Conatser urged Congress to enact the legislative proposals of The American Legion during testimony before a joint session of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committees on Sept. 20.
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By Marty Conatser - The American Legion National Commander
When the term “betray” is used to describe any American general not named Benedict Arnold, it gets most people’s attention. When it is used in a New York Times advertisement to describe a brilliant wartime commander with the credentials of David A. Petraeus, it gets the 2.7 million member American Legion’s attention.
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(Sept. 10, 2007) The leader of the nation’s largest veterans organization criticized last week’s decision by the 9th Circuit Court to remove a cross from a World War I veterans memorial in California’s Mojave Desert as the beginning of the “slippery slope of extreme secularism.”
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One thing I have noticed in my travels as national commander is that there is an increase in community support for American Legion programs wherever Legionnaires take the time and make the effort to create an event.
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As I traveled across this great country visiting American Legion posts and our members, I couldn’t help but notice the wonderful resources that our infrastructure of 14,000 plus posts and our 2.7 million members provide their communities. Many of these posts excel in administering our four pillars of service to the local community --- veterans health care, children welfare, Americanism and national security. Yes, I said national security.
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Drive into any community across the country and you’re typically greeted by a sign reading something like, “Welcome to Greenfield. Pop. 14,345.” Below the welcome sign, or perhaps mounted nearby, are perhaps the emblems of Kiwanis, the Rotary and the Lions Club - all well-respected organizations that have been doing good in their communities for more than nine decades.
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The American Legion’s Position on Illegal Immigration - The United States Senate should block the compromise immigration bill---the issue is too important to create new laws while ignoring existing laws.
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Washington, DC (June 14, 2007) – The American Legion, the nation’s largest veterans organization, applauds the efforts of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (CA), Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt (SC), Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (WI), and Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Chet Edwards (TX) for producing an appropriations bill for the Department of Veterans Affairs that coincides with the recommendations made by The American Legion.
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Let me get this straight. Senator, you want to legalize people who enter our sovereign nation illegally, ignore our immigration laws, steal our identities and lie to employers? People who draw from our public services, get free health care and education, all paid for by you and me and American taxpayers? And, if I’m reading this right, many if not most, of our illegal visitors fail to pay taxes while sending huge sums of money back to their homeland.
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By Paul A. Morin" »
Here is a surprise, I am not going to defend the Iraq war. I won’t even explain the importance of the war on terrorism. VA budget? Not today. That’s because this column is about Memorial Day, a hallowed day that should be about honoring the more than one million men and women who died in the service of this nation in wars and conflicts dating back to 1775. It should be above politics. Period.
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By National Commander Paul A. Morin" »
WASHINGTON, DC (May 9, 2007) – The leader of the nation’s largest veterans organization today voiced his organization's strong opposition to Congress’ piecemeal funding approach to the war in Iraq.
"Don't nickel and dime the men and women you placed in harm's way," said Paul A. Morin, national commander of The American Legion, to those Members of Congress responsible for funding the Global War on Terror.
Earlier this year, Cmdr. Morin wrote to the congressional leadership asking for timely passage of the President's Emergency Defense Supplemental Appropriations to fully fund the on-going cost to fight the Global War on Terror.
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Our troops need your help and they need your help now!
When it comes to funding our troops, we have no time to waste. The clock is literally ticking for our troops in the field.
That’s why I'm inviting every member of The American Legion, American Legion Auxiliary and Sons of The American Legion to contact their congressmen and senators to demand that they pass a clean supplemental appropriations bill: one that funds our troops without artificial timetables for withdrawal.
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Washington, DC (March 29, 2007) - The National Commander of The American Legion Paul A. Morin again voiced his organization's strong opposition to the passage of the modified FY 2007 Defense Emergency Supplemental Appropriations request which also barely passed in the Senate.
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The National Commander of The American Legion criticized an amendment narrowly passed by the U.S. Senate that would add a timeline of withdrawal to an Iraq spending bill. “You don’t have to be a military strategist to understand the advantage a withdrawal date gives to the enemy,” Paul A. Morin said. “First the House passed a blueprint for disaster and now the Senate passes a recipe for surrender.”
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Washington, DC (March 23, 2007) - The National Commander of The American Legion voiced his organization's strong opposition to the modified FY 2007 Defense Emergency Supplemental Appropriations request which barely passed the House of Representatives today.
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