Latest News
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Wednesday, September 16, 2020
Oratorical Champ Shares Thoughts
Victor Gelfuso, the Department of New York’s 2020 oratorical champion, could not address the Department Convention this year when it was cancelled due to the pandemic. But it didn’t stop him from penning words of “Pride and Gratitude” to share in written form. In a written message to Legionnaires, New York’s oratorical champion, Victor Gelfuso, says The American Legion’s speech contest fostered in him a greater appreciation for the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
“Exercising my rights to freedom of speech and freedom of the press,” he writes, “has shown me how much the United States values one of the paramount rights in human life: the freedom of thought and the pursuit of truth.”
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Saturday, September 12, 2020
9/11 Memories and Department Update
A MESSAGE FROM THE DEPARTMENT ADJUTANT
By James W. Casey
Adjutant, Department of New YorkRemembering 9/11
I attended a small ceremony Friday in Cohoes to commemorate the 19th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks. It brought back some memories that I don’t think will ever leave me and I want to briefly share them with you.
James Casey
On the morning of 09-11-01, I was home on Long Island making last minute adjustments for our Department Commander’s visit to Queens County. It was newly elected Department Commander Gibby Mitras’s first official visit on his 62-County journey through his year. We had planned a visit to the local VA Hospital at St. Albans and the State Veterans Nursing Home next door. Lunch at a local post and a tour of some war memorials in the area would round out the day’s events. A dinner and installation of the Queens County officers at Antuns Catering Hall would culminate the evening nicely.
