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"Americanism
is an unfailing love of country: loyalty to its institutions and ideals;
eagerness to defend it against all enemies; undivided allegiance to the flag;
and a desire to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and
posterity." This was the
definition adopted during the late 1920's or early 1930's by the
Commanders-in-Chief of the VFW and national commanders of four other veterans
organizations. But long before these leaders agreed on this definition, the VFW
had founded its own Americanism program based on the principles of its
constitution. The program got
its start under Captain Walter I. Joyce on March 1, 1921. As Chairman of the
Committee on Americanization, Joyce embarked on an aggressive campaign to stir
up patriotism across the United States. His early efforts were aimed at
furthering the goals of the VFW Creed he had developed himself. This creed,
adopted by the National Council of Administration in January 1921, declared
that the VFW would: This creed was
distributed to members throughout the country, as well as to other military,
fraternal, and veteran's organizations. Eventually, 150,000 signatures were
obtained on apetition urging the adoption of this program to "Americanize
America." During the early
1920's, a second Joyce campaign, to "Buy American," and a third, to
take "Un-American Textbooks out of the schools," followed closely behind
the first. Close to a million copies of Joyce's booklet, "Etiquette of the
Stars and Stripes," were also distributed to schools, posts, and other
organizations during this period. Joyce's crowning
achievement was to lead the VFW in the campaign to have the "Star-Spangled
Banner" proclaimed our national anthem. For years, the "Star-Spangled
Banner" had been our unofficial anthem, and in 1916 President Woodrow Wilson
had declared that it was, indeed, our national anthem. But the song could not
be our official anthem until Congress approved a bill declaring it so. At Joyce's
request, New York Congressman Hamilton Fish introduced a bill into the 69th
Congress to make the "Star-Spangled Banner" our national anthem, but
to no avail. Fish reintroduced the same bill into the 70th Congress. Again no
action was taken. On January 30, 1930, representatives of the VFW and more than
sixty veteran and patriotic groups met in a conference in Washington. They
urged passage of the Star-Spangled Banner Bill, then pending in Congress.
Hearings on this bill, which had been introduced by Congressman Charles
Linthicum of Maryland, were to begin the next day. At this hearing, VFW
petitions bearing more than 5 million signatures were presented to the House
Judiciary Committee. In addition, the VFW presented favorable endorsements from
organizations totaling over 15 million in membership. Still, there were
objections to the bill. Pacifists complained that the words were too military.
Others said the tune was too hard to sing. To help overcome these objections,
Joyce arranged for the U.S. Navy Band and soprano Elsie Reilly, a member of the
Auxiliary to Post 824 of Washington, D.C., to perform the song for the committee.
Her rendition must have been particularly stirring because the bill made it out
of committee and was approved by the House on April 21, 1930. In the Senate,
the bill was held up in the Library Committee until February of the following
year. Joyce and other members of the VFW Legislative Committee called on the
senators opposed to the bill and secured their agreement not to block passage.
Finally, the Star-Spangled Banner Bill made it to the floor of the Senate on
March 3, 1931. This time it fared well. Just hours before Congress adjourned it
was passed unanimously and signed into law by President Hoover. In the mid
1930's, Victor Devereaux followed Joyce as Director of the Americanism program.
As Devereaux instilled his own beliefs into the program, it gradually became
more right wing. The new director guided the program's efforts to expose
radical elements and subversive organizations operating inside our country.
These activities reached their peak in World War II. During the war, the
Department of Americanism cooperated with the F.B.I. in reporting subversive
groups and acts of sabotage. Devereaux also
began the VFW Youth Activity program in 1935. The following year, the National
Encampment passed a resolution requiring that a national director of Youth
Activities be appointed and instructing each department and post to appoint a
director of these junior activities. Through this program, many Sons and
Daughters of the VFW units were formed. These groups reached a membership peak
of 50,000 to 65,000 before the outbreak of World War II. Later, many sons'
units were disbanded when their members joined the service, and the Junior
Girls units were absorbed into the Auxiliary. Other youth projects included a
National Softball Tournament, rifle shooting tournaments, Bicycle Safety Clubs,
sponsorship of Boy Scout and Cub Scout troops, and a model airplane building
club with over 50,000 members. So successful would these youth activities
become that in 1945 youth activities were made into a separate program with
their own director. Another of
Devereaux's accomplishments was to found a speaker's club whose members
presented prepared speeches about America, veterans, youth activities, and
other topics to groups and social gatherings across the nation. Through this
club, 300 to 400 speakers each gave about a dozen speeches a year. Upon the
resignation of Devereaux in 1945, Mark Kinsey, an Iowa newspaperman and radio
writer, became Americanism director. His primary contribution to the program
was to compile, evaluate, and distribute information on Americanism and to
speak for the VFW on Americanism matters. Under his direction, the Americanism
Department prepared scripts that were used by 500 radio stations across the
country, as well as articles that were published in 120 magazines and
newspapers. He also set up a section to answer requests from organizations and
individuals for information concerning VFW policies and general patriotic
subjects. In 1947, the Americanism Department mailed over 5,600 "Speak Up
for Democracy" scripts and press releases, 4,300 sets of articles and
speeches, and 3,500 personal letters. In 1949, the
Americanism Department began a long fight to have May 1st designated as
"Loyalty Day." In doing so, it hoped to counteract the messages of
hate which the Communists broadcast during their annual May Day celebrations.
For many years, the VFW struggled to get Congress to consider the bill.
Finally, in 1954, Congressman and three-time National Commander-in-Chief James
E. Van Zandt of Pennsylvania introduced a House Joint Resolution calling for
the declaration of Loyalty Day. His bill passed the House, but not the Senate.
Undaunted, he reintroduced the bill in 1955. This time, Congress passed the
bill, but designated only May 1st of that year as "Loyalty Day." Not
satisfied, the VFW continued its push to have May 1st of each year proclaimed
as "Loyalty Day." This date was finally given official recognition in
1958 when Congress adopted Public Law 529 designating May 1st as Loyalty Day.
Although never recognized as a major national holiday, Loyalty Day is still
celebrated by posts, county councils, and districts all across this nation. To
demonstrate their loyalty to our nation, its ideals, and its flag these units
sponsor parades, hold dinners to honor wartime and peacetime heroes, and donate
and ceremoniously replace worn and tattered flags flying in their community. Shortly after the
campaign for Loyalty Day was concluded, the Americanism Department succeeded in
achieving another long-standing goal. For twenty years, the VFW had been
working for the admission of Hawaii into the union; in fact, it had been the
first patriotic organization to propose admission. On August 21, 1959, Hawaii
became the fiftieth state. Just as the VFW
Creed had set the tone for the Americanism Department's activities in the
1920's, in the 1960's the Americanism Department was guided by a new manifesto.
During the 1961 to 1962 year, the national Americanism committee approved the
following Code of Ethics for The Veterans of Foreign Wars Fight Against
Communism.
CODE
OF ETHICS Throughout the
1960's, the Americanism Department worked to foster support for our troops
fighting Communism in Vietnam. With the help of the Auxiliary, VFW members
gathered and sent relief supplies such as food, clothing, and medical supplies
to our soldiers in Vietnam for distribution among the Vietnamese civilians
whose way of life had been devastated by the war. While it was
supporting the players in the current conflict, the VFW did not forget those
who had served in earlier wars. After learning that nowhere in France was there
a memorial to World War I American Expeditionary Forces Commander and VFW
member John J. Pershing, the VFW set about rectifying that oversight. In
February of 1967, with another VFW member, Dwight D. Eisenhower, heading the
memorial committee, an impressive statue sculpted by world-famous artist Felix
W. de Weldon was erected. Because of the high regard the French veterans had
for their American counterparts, the city of Paris approved $10,000 for
landscaping the site. As the 1960's
gave way to the 1970's, the Americanism Department and its activities had
become such an integral part of the organization as a whole that less and less
distinction was made between what was a VFW project and what was an exclusive
project of the Americanism Department. Certainly in reporting activities to the
media, it was less cumbersome to say that something was done by the VFW, rather
than as an Americanism Project of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United
States. It was the same work, done in the same way, by the same people, only
the credit was given in a different way. Inside the organization, however, the
work was still accredited and reported and judged by the same people in the
same way. During the
nation's bicentennial year, the VFW and its Auxiliary unveiled yet another
monument - the "Torch of Freedom" monument. Located on the grounds of
the VFW Washington Office in our nation's capital, this thirty-six-foot-high,
three-sided marble and bronze sculpture features three-dimensional plaques
recalling America's battles for freedom. At the top is a simulated flame which
is lighted at night. The monument bears the inscription: "Out of the
past so great to build a greater future in honor and memory of the veterans of
all America's wars who by their service kept the Torch of Freedom burning. This
monument is dedicated by the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Auxiliary to the
VFW in honor of all who have served, their parents, wives and children." Over the next
years, recognition of those who had kept the Torch of Freedom burning remained
a high priority of the VFW and its Americanism Department. At the VFW National
Convention in August 1982, Jan Scruggs, president of the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial Fund paid tribute to the VFW's part in helping the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial become a reality. Scruggs recalled that in 1969 he recommended to
Congress that a monument be erected to Vietnam veterans. When Congress backed
away from the project, he elected to undertake the project himself. "I
needed money to stimulate the necessary interest, and the VFW was the only
organization to come forward with some money. Then I had to go to Congress to
get two acres near the Lincoln Memorial. Cooper T. Holt, the Executive Director
of the VFW Washington Office, got personally involved. Then the VFW had fund
raising dinners and everywhere I went the VFW was right in the middle of it.
They actually contributed $300,000. Even during the arguments over the style of
the monument, the VFW stood with us." During the
Vietnam Memorial Monument Dedication on November 10 to 14, 1982, the VFW was
well represented by its Jr. Vice Commander-in-Chief and Vietnam veteran Billy
Ray Cameron of North Carolina. Cameron participated in all of the events and
was one of the principle speakers for the actual dedication ceremony of
November 23rd. Cameron told the 250,000 assembled for the dedication, "The
VFW has always held, and will continue to hold to the ancient wisdom that says,
‘Hate War, Yet Honor The Warrior.'" Two years later,
on Memorial Day 1984, the VFW helped win another struggle for the Vietnam veterans. After years of advocating by the VFW and other veterans
organizations, the body of an unknown Vietnam veteran was interred in Arlington
National Cemetery alongside his comrades-in-arms from the First and Second
World Wars and the Korean War. In 1989 and 1990,
the VFW again manned the ramparts, this time in a war with the Supreme Court
and the Congress over the "Desecration of the American Flag Issue."
On June 11, 1989, the Flag Act of 1989-which prescribed penalties for the
desecration or burning of the American Flag-had been declared unconstitutional
in a 5:4 decision by the Supreme Court. The VFW announced it would keep the
heat on Congress until it passed a constitutional amendment to resolve this
controversial issue. In a hurried, but massive effort, the VFW and other
patriotic organizations attempted to force Congress into calling for and
ratifying a constitutional amendment. Although their effort came to naught,
they vowed to keep the issue alive until some adequate protection is given our
national banner. In another
emotional area, the VFW took a leading role in prompting Congress and the
nation in remembering the virtually forgotten veterans of the Korean War.
Putting its money where its mouth was, the VFW surpassed its fund-raising
commitment by tendering $550,000 toward the Korean War Memorial Fund. The
Auxiliary contributed an additional $97,000.
The top ten
contributors to the Korean War Memorial were: To drum up
further recognition for those who fought in Korea, the VFW helped convince
Congress to pass a resolution honoring veterans of the Korean War. The
resolution declared that June 25, 1990, would be known as Korean War Veterans
Recognition Day. On that day, VFW posts worldwide offered special recognition
to those who had served in that worthy effort. Obviously, the
Department of Americanism is charged with a staggering responsibility. It is the
conscience of the VFW, and, to a lesser degree, of the nation. The department
takes direction from the Commander-in-Chief and the National Encampment, and on
occasion remind both of what that direction should be. Americanism and the VFW
are so closely intertwined that they cannot be separated.