of Governor Herbert R. O'Conor 57

"What the American Legion means to the United States" is the topic
that has been suggested to me for discussion tonight. It is a timely one, in
truth, one that, I have no doubt, has been in the minds of many thousands
of our countrymen at some time or another during these past six months as
they read what was happening in Europe, saw weaker nations crushed beneath
the might of ruthless neighbors, and possibly wondered when something like
that might threaten even our own Land of the Free. There is much that
should be dwelt upon by anyone who seeks to do justice to the American
Legion's worth to America, and in the few moments allotted me I shall attempt
to review briefly some of the outstanding contributions that have been made,
and are being made, by the Legion to America's security and national well-
being.

I believe, however, I can come close to summing up the Legion's meaning
to America when I tell you of the new member of the Legion who confessed
recently that he had never given much thought to the organization. He never
had any idea of joining it and aiding in its work, until the day several years
ago when he stood for hours on the sidewalk in New York City, and was,
thrilled to the very depths of his being by the thousands upon thousands of
Legionnaires who, hour after hour, marched proudly by under the combined
banners of the Legion and of the United States, as the climax to the greatest
national convention the Legion ever held.

"It was a sight I'll never forget, " this man said. "There I stood, hour
upon hour, unable to tear myself away, even though I was supposed to be
in New York upon business, and had plenty to keep me going every minute.
'Good Heavens! Will they never stop coming?' he said to himself after the
first few hours. 'Good Heavens! Don't let them stop coming!' was the way
he put it, hours later, when the sun began to fade behind the skyscrapers, and
the first shadows of evening descended, while still the marching ranks came on
and on.

"As first one State and then another sent its representation down the
avenue, the thought came to him, he said, that here, before his very eyes was
all the answer anyone would ever need to any threats that could be made
against America—that here was ample warning to all the world that America
never again would be caught unprepared.

"What more salutary punishment could be conceived, " he said to himself,
as he watched the countless marchers, "for the Communist or any member
of a disloyal breed, than to be compelled to stand on the sidelines for an
American Legion Parade, and see for themselves what an insurmountable
obstacle there is to any subversive doctrine or activity that might dare to
raise its head among us. " The first thing he did on his return from New York
was to apply for membership in the Legion. He wanted to be a part of that bul-
wark of American manhood, even though it took him nearly twenty years
to make up his mind. And it took the realization of what the American Legion
has come to mean to America, to persuade him finally to pitch in and assume
his share of the burden that, as he put it, "every real American must be pre-
pared to carry if he has sense enough to value properly his free American
citizenship, and if he has love enough for his children to wish to turn his
citizenship over to them in at least as good shape as it was when he received it. "

In seeking to arrive at any valuation of the American Legion to the United
States, we need but to refer to the Preamble of the Legion's Constitution to