Legion Family,
I am just finally back home after attending The American Legion Washington Conference, on behalf of the Department of Arizona. In fact, several other Arizona Legionnaires and Legion Family flew to DC to represent us as a department. I begin by thanking you for the supreme honor to serve as your department commander. This truly is a humbling honor.
For those not familiar with the Legion Washington Conference, it is the annual trip for leaders from all 55 departments to meet in DC and educate our elected officials on the legislative priorities our national organization puts forward. It’s vital to meet our members of Congress on Capitol Hill, as that is where they debate and enact these swift policy areas, and they need to see the massive force of The American Legion on Capitol Hill. To say The American Legion showed up in force is an understatement. Personally, it was amazing seeing the halls of Congress filled with Legion caps…particularly Legion caps with the cactus.
In the days leading up to us visiting Capitol Hill, our entire Arizona delegation attended many commission meetings, including VA&R, National Security, Legislative, Veterans Education & Employment and more. I challenged our entire AZ delegation to ensure they bring all that information they learned, back to AZ, to share with all our posts. Information is worthless if it’s not shared and put into action. I have full faith that our Legion Family who attended is already hard at work creating their reports to share with you.
During my time in our Nation’s capital, a few things really stuck out at me. First, it’s that we truly are the strongest and largest veterans service organization; but with that comes a responsibility to act! We must never let up on letting our Members of Congress know where The American Legion stands on a particular policy area. Every story has a Veteran’s angle to it. Every story! Second, it’s that our Legion really is a family. It was amazing to see our entire Legion Family come together, from sea to shining sea, to support our National Commander as he testified before Congress. Our National Commander along with our national staff all spoke with ONE VOICE as ONE GROUP, representing the best and most serving Veterans’ organization ever known on this Earth.
Your Arizona Legion showed up in DC ready to learn, advocate and fight for all veterans. To say I was proud to see our Legion Family in action, is an understatement. I was damn proud!
In closing, My Legion Family, I simply desire to share with you that it continues to be a great honor to serve as your Department Commander.
Semper Fi,
Mike Simon
State Commander
Arizona American Legion
