National commander shares his message with attendees at the organization’s national convention in Louisville.
With two days remaining in his tenure as American Legion national commander, Kansas Legionnaire Dan K. Wiley reminded attendees at the organization’s 107th National Convention in Louisville, Ky., of a promise he made after being elected to the position in Tampa, Fla., one year ago.
And then he explained how that promise has led to his and the organization’s support for the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act (TCAVA).
“I promised you that The American Legion will always have your back. I wasn’t just referring to Legionnaires. I was referring to all veterans,” Wiley said. “This is why we have fought – and will continue to fight – for passage and enactment of the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act.
“By supporting this legislation, we have the backs of millions of veterans, caregivers and family members who would benefit from the 62 bills that have been combined to provide increased funding for VA facilities, mental health and suicide prevention. We have the backs of thousands of Chapter 61 combat retirees who would receive full retirement pay and disability compensation without any offset. We have the backs of the most severely disabled veterans who would receive an additional $10,000 in special monthly compensation. We have the backs of Gold Star spouses, who would no longer lose their benefits if they re-marry before age 55.”
Wiley said by supporting the legislation, if passed it will fulfill the resolved clauses of 30 national resolutions passed by Convention delegates or the National Executive Committee.
During his remarks, Wiley read a quote from former President Teddy Roosevelt:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who serves valiantly; who errs; who comes short again and again; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
“In today’s terms, let me put it to you bluntly,” Wiley said. “Credit belongs to the person that’s actually in the arena and the one that’s being bashed on social media. Not those doing the bashing on social media.”
Wiley pointed out other ways in which the Legion worked for the nation’s veterans this year. In December, he was invited to the signing of an Executive Order in the White House’s Oval Office that reclassified cannabis from a Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substance Act. The previous classification considered cannabis to be more addictive than cocaine and fentanyl.
“That made absolutely no sense,” Wiley said of the previous classification. “(The new Executive Order) opens new therapy possibilities for veterans suffering from PTSD, traumatic brain injuries, depression and chronic pain.”
The order also allows for federal research and delivers on a national resolution passed by delegates at the Legion’s 2016 national convention in Cincinnati. “By supporting additional therapies, we have the backs of an estimated 20 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who have experienced PTSD or TBI,” Wiley said. “We have the backs of veterans who have contemplated suicide and are searching for options to overcome depression or opioid addiction.”
Other areas in which Wiley said the Legion had the backs of others this year include:
· Helping veterans receive more than $29 billion in U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs benefits because of the work of American Legion service officers.
· Quality-of-life improvements for veterans, servicemembers and their families because of the advancement of the organization’s legislative priorities. He referenced those successes that were aided by the more than 450,000 messages sent to Congress through the Legion’s Grassroots Action Center since the beginning of the year.
· The veterans and children who will benefit from the Veterans & Children Foundation due to the money raised through the USA 250 Challenge.
Wiley also touched on the upcoming 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the U.S.
“In 10 days, a quarter-century will have passed since the worst terrorist attack in United States history,” he said. “That day, hundreds of firefighters, police officers. EMTs and ordinary citizens had the backs of our entire country as they performed rescue operations. Many of them lost their lives in the process. They had the backs of all of us on 9/11 because we were all potential targets simply because we were an American. In the period since, an entire generation has grown up in a world permanently changed by the Global War on Terrorism.”
“The men and women of our armed forces bravely defended us and continue to defend us as they are deployed in hot spots worldwide. Our bond with them is unbreakable.”
Wiley also lauded the efforts of the Legion’s Be the One veteran suicide prevention mission and those across the nation who have brought it into their own communities.
“I have met veterans who have said that The American Legion had their backs and that they are alive because someone did a Buddy Check and cared about their well-being,” he said. “The tragic consequences of suicide do not just impact the individual. They impact the friends and loved ones, and they impact the family.”
- Commander