Helping America to "Honor Veterans"

It is well-known that U.S. servicemembers and veterans receive a great deal of satisfaction from simply being thanked for their service. But much more can be done for them than this. For decades, The American Legion has been at the forefront of helping all those who have served - including women veterans, wounded warriors, unemployed veterans and military families. And a new PR campaign both promotes to the American public at large what the Legion does, and draws that public in to help the Legion do even more.

The "Honor Veterans" initiative was put together by the Public Relations staff at National Headquarters. Public service announcements (PSAs), talking about the special circumstances and needs of the four subgroups, call on viewers to visit a dedicated hub on the Legion's national website. The hub - www.legion.org/honorveterans - features information and Web links on how the Legion helps the subgroups; how members of the subgroups can help themselves, or get outside help; how the viewers can directly help the subgroups, such as by volunteering or writing to troops; and how viewers can help the Legion by donating to programs that help the subgroups, such as Operation Comfort Warriors and Temporary Financial Assistance.

Key to the success of this initiative is its wide distribution. The PSAs can be viewed on LegionTV and YouTube, and were bundled onto CABLEPAK, a collection of nonprofit PSAs that is distributed to many of the country's largest cable systems for airing. Legionnaires can do their part, as well. The Honor Veterans hub features embed codes for the four PSAs, enabling Legionnaires and posts to make them viewable on their own websites, those of other organizations that have given permission, and Facebook, as well as radio. The separate, complementary radio spots are directly accessible here. Each of the nine PSAs has two versions: one directing listeners to the hub, and the other with space at the end for an announcer to add a local tag line directing listeners to a local post.

Honor Veterans kits, which include instructions and the PSAs in physical form that can be given in person, are available from Public Relations. Call (317) 630-1253 or email pr@legion.org for more information.