American Legion National Commander Visits Wednesday

DAN DELLINGER

By JOE VACCARO
American Legion Post 56

March 31, 2014

American Legion National Commander Dan Dellinger will visit Post 56 and the Eastern Shore Wednesday, April 2 — the first known visit to the Shore of an American Legion national commander.

Post 56 in Cheriton is hosting a luncheon for Dellinger and his staff and anticipates a large crowd, including the American Legion Riders, local elected officials, and dignitaries.

As the national commander, Dellinger is the chief executive officer and official spokesman for the 2.4 million members of The American Legion, with full power to enforce provisions of the organization’s constitution, bylaws and resolutions. He is the veterans’ conduit to America’s elected officials, and has testified before the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committees. His concerns and inquires have included the VA claims backlog, VA medical care for women veterans, budget cuts, post traumatic stress disorders, TRICARE cuts, and traumatic brain injuries from IED attacks.

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Each national commander serves a one-year term after which a new leader is elected at the national convention. Five national vice commanders who serve different regions are also elected at the national convention each year.

Dellinger’s personal project as national commander is the American Legion’s National Emergency Fund, which was established in 1989 after Hurricane Hugo struck several states. Since that time the NEF has provided over $8 million in direct finances to Legionnaires, their families, and their Posts to help them recover from natural disasters.

A former infantry officer in the Army, Dellinger served as a post, district, and department commander and chaired numerous committees at the national level, including the Legislative, National Security and Economics commissions. In addition he has served as a presidential appointee on the Federal Taskforce on SBA Hiring and as Vice Mayor and town councilman for Vienna, VA.

As of 2012 there were a reported 21.2 million veterans in America — 9.6 million of them 65 years or older and 1.8 million younger than 35 years old. Over 7.4 million of these veterans are Viet Nam era veterans who continue to serve their communities and this nation with dignity and honor. The Shore has over 5,000 veterans who have served in World War II, Korea, Viet Nam, Desert Storm, Operation Enduring Freedom, or Operation Iraqi Freedom.