The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army, Union Navy, and the Marines who served in the American Civil War. It was founded in 1866 in Decatur, Illinois, and grew to include hundreds of "posts" across the North and West. It was dissolved in 1956 at the death of its last member, Albert Woolson.
The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a patriotic organization of U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It comprises state, U.S. territory, and overseas departments, in turn, made up of local posts. It was established in March 1919 at Paris, France, by officers and men of the American Expeditionary Forces (A.E.F.). In September 1919, it was chartered by the U.S. Congress.
John William Warner III was an American lawyer and politician who served as the United States Secretary of the Navy from 1972 to 1974 and as a five-term Republican U.S. Senator from Virginia from 1979 to 2009. He served as Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee from 1999 to 2001, and again from 2003 to 2007. Warner also served as the Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee from 1995 to 1999.
Henry Lee III was an early American Patriot and politician who served as the ninth Governor of Virginia and as the Virginia Representative to the United States Congress. Lee's service during the American Revolution as a cavalry officer in the Continental Army earned him the nickname by which he is best known, "Light-Horse Harry". He was the father of Robert E. Lee, who led the Army of Northern Virginia against the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Michael Herman Michaud is an American businessman and politician from Maine. Michaud served as the U.S. representative for Maine's 2nd congressional district from 2003 to 2015. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The primarily rural district comprises nearly 80% of the state by area and includes the cities of Lewiston, Auburn, Bangor, Presque Isle, and Ellsworth. It is the largest Congressional district by area east of the Mississippi River.
James Richard Perry is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019. He previously served as the 47th governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015 and ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in the 2012 and 2016 elections.
Lloyd Alton Doggett II is an American attorney and politician who is a U.S. representative from Texas. A member of the Democratic Party, he has represented a district based in Austin since 1995, currently numbered as Texas's 37th congressional district.
Thomas Chester Edwards is an American politician who was a United States Representative from Texas, representing a district based in Waco, from 1991 to 2011. Previously, he served in the Texas Senate from 1983 to 1990. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Edwards was on Barack Obama's vice presidential shortlist in 2008.
Edmund Jackson Davis was an American lawyer, soldier, and politician. Davis was a Southern Unionist and a general in the Union Army in the American Civil War. He also served as the 14th Governor of Texas from 1870 to 1874, during the Reconstruction era. Reviled by many Texans during and after the Civil War as a traitor for his open support for the North and his attempts to break up Texas into several Northern-controlled states, Davis is known for leasing prisoners to private corporations to alleviate state budget shortfalls.
Edward Martin was an American lawyer, military officer and Republican party politician from Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. He served as the 32nd governor of Pennsylvania from 1943 until 1947 and as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1947 until 1959.
The Brownsville affair, or the Brownsville raid, was an incident of racial discrimination that occurred in 1906 in the Southwestern United States due to resentment by white residents of Brownsville, Texas, of the Buffalo Soldiers, black soldiers in a segregated unit stationed at nearby Fort Brown. When a white bartender was killed and a white police officer wounded by gunshots one night, townspeople accused the members of the African-American 25th Infantry Regiment. Although their commanders said the soldiers had been in the barracks all night, evidence was allegedly planted against the men.
Ernest William Gibson Jr. was an American attorney, politician, and judge. He served briefly as an appointed United States Senator, as the 67th governor of Vermont, and as a federal judge.
R. Steven Whitcomb is a retired United States Army lieutenant general. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant upon graduation from the University of Virginia in 1970. In his final assignment he served as Inspector General of the United States Army.
John Rice Carter is the U.S. representative serving Texas's 31st congressional district since 2003. He is a Republican. The district includes the northern suburbs of Austin, as well as Fort Cavazos.
Lawrence Guzman Romo is an American civil servant and former United States Air Force officer. He served as director of the Selective Service System in the Obama administration. He is a former National Commander of the American GI Forum, and served from August 2018 to August 2021. He is the current American GI Forum National Legislative Director and was appointed by Congressman Adam Smith to serve on the Base Naming Commission until October 2022.
John Trent Kelly is an American lawyer, politician, and U.S. Army general officer from Mississippi. A member of the Republican Party, Kelly is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Mississippi's 1st congressional district.
John S. Gleason Jr. was an American banker convicted of fraud in 1977. He previously served as the sixth Administrator of Veterans Affairs, from 1961 to 1965, and the National Commander of The American Legion from 1957 to 1958. He was a decorated World War II veteran, having received the Silver Star Medal, the Legion of Merit, and three Bronze Star Medals. After the war, he served as a senior officer in the United States Army Reserve.
Edward Arthur Hayes served as the 16th national commander of The American Legion, from 1933 to 1934.
Tieman H. Dippel Jr. is an American civic leader, businessman, attorney, and author. He has served in the University of Texas system, the Texas Chamber of Commerce, Blue Cross Blue Shield, as director in the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, and many other institutions; in addition to founding the Texas Lyceum. He is known for his book series and philosophic concept, The Language of Conscience, published between 1987 and 2012.
James Richard Baird is an American businessman and politician who serves as the U.S. representative from Indiana's 4th congressional district. Before being elected to Congress, Baird served from 2010 to 2018 as a member of the Indiana House of Representatives and as a Putnam County commissioner from 2006 to 2010. A Vietnam veteran, Baird was elected to Congress on November 6, 2018.
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