The American Legion Riders History
In the fall of 1993 Chuck
(Tramp) Dare shared a dream with then Post Commander (Polka) Bill
Kaledas at the American Legion Post 396 in Garden City, Michigan. The
idea came about to start a motorcycle association that would operate
within the American Legion. The idea was to provide an atmosphere
whereas Post, Auxiliary and S.A.L. members, who shared an enthusiasm for
motorcycles, could come together. It was meant to be a family oriented
group.
This emblem is worn today by
Legion Rider groups throughout the country and is available to it's
members through and State chapters.
Another important decision
we made, with concurrence of our Department Adjutant, was to not require
members that wanted to become legion Riders to transfer to our Post.
Our Post sponsored the American Legion Rider group, but not all of our
members belong to our Post. We felt that if we required members to
transfer to our Post that this would cause a lot of hard feelings in
other Post near our own community. What we soon found out was that our
membership grew, not from current legion members, but many joined the
American Legion to become members of the American Legion Riders. A very
conservative estimate would say that over half of our current membership
joined the American Legion to enable them to join the Riders.
Right after starting we
proceeded to get down to "business". Our objective was to support the
aims and purposes of the American Legion, through service to our
Community, State and Nation. We did such things as putting on a "Bingo"
at the VA Hospital, putting on fundraisers for local charities,
participating in motorcycle "runs" to raise money for charity and
participation in ceremonies and parades. We did have some Post members
who thought, in the beginning, that we would be just a bunch of
"Bikers". After seeing the kinds of things we did, we gained a lot of
respect in both the American Legion community as well as our own
community.
In 1996 we had an article
published about the American Legion Riders in the American Legion
National publication of the "Dispatch". An article in the American
Legion Magazine soon followed up this article. In about 1996 "Tramp"
moved to Texas, where he did a great job of promoting the Legion Rider
program there. Today, there are groups of American Legion Riders
throughout the country.
Where we are today
As the membership of the
American Legion Riders is a very diverse group, so are the programs that
they are involved in. By allowing each American Legion Rider Chapter to
give their members the ability to manage their program at the Post
level, the program has been allowed to grow. Today there exist Legion
Rider programs in several states, and many more starting. The types of
things that these groups are doing are far too many to mention in this
article, but here are a few examples:
- Participation in the annual POW/MIA Rally held each Memorial weekend in Washington D.C. known as "Rolling Thunder".
- Sponsoring or participating in local Charity events.
- Raising money for such organizations as local VA Hospitals, Battered
Women and Children's Center, Varied Children and Youth programs, a
School for Blind Children, Veterans Relief, Needy families and many,
many others.
- Sponsoring or participating in motorcycle "Runs" to benefit numerous
charities, including charities for underprivileged children and medical
research, just to name a few.
- Participation in memorial ceremonies and community parades.
- One group is spearheading an effort to erect a "Veterans Memorial Park" in the center of their Downtown area.
The recognition by local
communities has marked the program as a true success. The American
Legion Riders Group in Michigan was even honored by the Local City
Council, when they drafted a resolution Declaring the American Legion
Riders as a valuable asset to the community. Motorcyclist can be a very
dedicated group of people. When you combine this with the fact that they
are legionnaires, you create a win/win situation.
Who benefits from forming an American Legion Riders Group?
We all do!!!! Many
of the groups, in existence today, have all had stories where some of
their Post members were a little reluctant to let a group of "Bikers" in
to their Post. After seeing what these groups were doing for the
American Legion their opinion soon changed. Not only did the Post
welcome them, but in most cases did what they could to help support
their efforts, by participating in some of the groups fundraising
events. There are also many stories where the American Legion Riders
group worked in conjunction with the Post to sponsor a program. The Post
was glad to have their help and the Riders were honored to be asked. We
were able to break down some barriers. Just because one person wears a
leather motorcycle jacket and another wears a golf shirt and slacks, we
now know that we can work together to promote the aims and purposes of
the American Legion.
We have done it, and
everyone involved was able to see the benefit. The American Legion
Riders was never intended to be a "Motorcycle Club". As stated, it is to
be able to work with the Local Post to assist in promoting the American
Legion.
Membership, Membership, Membership!!
Literally every Post program
of the American Legion Riders has brought in members that may not have
joined the American Legion were it not for the Riders program. The
Riders program has been able to spark a new interest to join the
American Legion. Some of these members, who joined for the Legion Rider
program, have gone on to serve as Officers within their Post.
Conversely, we have also had Post members go out and purchase
motorcycles just to join the Riders. There was one story from a Post
that recently started an American Legion Riders group. It advertised for
the first meeting of the group. They originally intended for only about
six or seven members to show up to the first meeting. When the meeting
started they had seventeen people wanting to join, nine of these people
were joining the American Legion that night so that they could become
members of the Legion Riders. Have you had a program that has brought in
that many new members in one night lately?
Pure enjoyment!!
The program was designed to
have people work together and enjoy themselves. It may be a group of
Riders working on a fundraiser for a local charity, it may be just a
warm summer evening ride together or maybe just sitting at the Post
sharing stories.
It's all about members working together and playing together - it is there for them to enjoy. 
To join The American Legion, you must have served at least one day on ACTIVE DUTY during any of these periods of conflict:
-
April 6, 1917 to November 11, 1918 (World War I)
- December 7, 1941 to December 31, 1946 (World War II)
- June 25, 1950 to January 31, 1955 (Korean War)
- February 28, 1961 to May 7, 1975 (Vietnam War)
- August 24, 1982 to July 31, 1984 (Lebanon/Grenada)
- December 20, 1989 to January 31, 1990 (Operation Just Cause - Panama)
- August 2, 1990 to today (Operation Desert Shield/Storm/Iraqi Freedom)
A copy of your DD214 showing dates and character of service is required at application.
This information is available online. Click Here.
Sons of the American Legion
To join the SAL you must be a male descendant (includes stepsons and adopted sons but does not include in-laws) of:
- a member of The American Legion?
~or~
- a Veteran who died in service during any of the qualifying periods of conflict listed above?
~or~
- of a Veteran who served during one of the qualifying periods of
conflict, was honorably discharged, and died subsequent to their service
A copy of The American Legion membership card or DD214 of the Veteran through whom you are qualified is required at application.
This information is available online. Click Here.
American Legion Auxiliary
To join the Auxiliary you must be a woman who:
is eligible for membership in The American Legion
- is the mother, wife, daughter, sister, granddaughter, great-grand-daughter, or grandmother of members of The American Legion?
~or~
- is the mother, wife, daughter, sister, granddaughter,
great-grand-daughter, or grandmother of deceased veterans who served in
the United States Armed Forces during the listed war periods?
~or~
- is a step relative to a qualified or deceased veteran.
*Note that, as with the SAL, in-law relatives to the qualified Veteran are not eligible for membership.
A copy of The American Legion membership card or DD214 of the Veteran through whom you are qualified is required at application.
This information is available online. Click Here. |
