American Legion Magazine

The American Legion, Inc., is a federally chartered veterans' organization formed in Paris on March 16, 1919, by members of the American Expeditionary Forces. Eligibility for American Legion membership is limited to those honorably discharged veterans and current personnel of the United States Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard or Air Force who served at least one day of active duty during any of the following periods; World War I (April 6, 1917 to November 11, 1918) were also eligible; the last such member of that group died in 2011, World War II:  December 7, 1941 to December 31, 1946 (except that for the U.S. Merchant Marine eligibility dates are December 7, 1941 to August 16, 1945), Korean War:  June 25, 1950 to January 31, 1955, Vietnam War:  February 28, 1961 to May 7, 1975, Lebanon and Grenada:  August 24, 1982 to July 31, 1984,  Panama: December 20, 1989 to January 31, 1990, Persian Gulf War/Global War on Terrorism: August 2, 1990 to present. 25% of members are active duty.