The American Legion organization was started at the end of World War I.

Jim Peterson, finance officer for the American Legion Peterson Post No. 431, said the Americans were seeing firsthand the devastation of the war in France — the widows and the orphans on the streets — and wanted to create an organization that would be able to assist those they were fearful would be in need when they returned. Talks of the American Legion then began at the Paris Caucus in 1918.

Eventually, in 1919, the American Legion was chartered by Congress as a patriotic veterans organization.

According to the American Legion website, focusing on service to veterans, service members and communities, the Legion evolved from a group of war-weary veterans of World War I into one of the most influential nonprofit groups in the United States. Membership swiftly grew to over 1 million, and local posts sprang up across the country. Today, membership stands at nearly 2 million in more than 13,000 posts worldwide. The posts are organized into 55 departments: one each for the 50 states, along with the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, France, Mexico and the Philippines.

Jim Peterson, financial officer for American Legion Peterson Post No. 431, stands next to a large display of veteran flags inside the Legion’s building in Gowrie.

Over the years, the Legion has influenced considerable social change in America, won hundreds of benefits for veterans and produced many important programs for children and youth.

Peterson said the American Legion was founded on four pillars:

• Veterans affairs and rehabilitation.

• National security.

• Americanism.

-Submitted photo
The annual Gowrie Fourth of July parade is led by the American Legion Peterson Post members pulling floats displaying veterans flags. In the last 50 years, they have gone from displaying 15 flags up to close to 300.

• Children and youth.

The American Legion’s mission statement declares: “It is the nation’s largest wartime veterans service organization, committed to mentoring youth and sponsorship of wholesome programs in our communities, advocating patriotism and honor, promoting strong national security, and continued devotion to our fellow service members and veterans.”

“Those four pillars are what they decided on to have an organization based on,” said Peterson. “Of not just one thing, but taking in everybody.”

The Legion also raises millions of dollars in donations at the local, state and national levels to help veterans and their families during times of need and to provide college scholarship opportunities.

On the local level, Peterson said it has annual fundraisers in coordination with Gowrie’s Fourth of July activities, which include a pork loin supper, bingo and a raffle.

-Messenger photo by Kriss Nelson
This old photo dates back to the time when drum corps were a popular part of the American Legion. Here the Gowrie Gauchos march in a parade.

“Those are our biggest ways of making money,” he said, adding the Peterson Post No. 431 is also diligent in following the four pillars of the national organization.

“One way is in our children and youth pillar we sponsor oratorical competitions, a fifth-grade flag essay and we also help sponsor the local Boy Scouts,” he said. “We donate to the food pantry; have a scholarship for a high school senior. We have also helped to pay electrical bills for veterans over the years.”

The American Legion is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization with great political influence perpetuated by its grass-roots involvement in the legislation process from local districts to Capitol Hill.

“We have a full-time legislative staff in Washington, D.C. that go out and knock on the doors of Congress every day,” said Peterson. “Those guys and gals are out there to get benefits from Congress to help our veterans. If we don’t fight for our benefits, who is going to do it for us? Nobody.”

The American Legion’s success depends entirely on active membership, participation and volunteerism.

“Your dues are working 24 hours a day,” said Peterson. “People say those dues are expensive, but they are supporting your post, they are supporting the state side and the dues are also supporting our full-time workers that are doing everything.”

Although the American Legion, Peterson said, is not the Department of Veterans Affairs, there are people within the organization that can assist veteran members in receiving their benefits.

“That is part of what dues are helping with — all of the benefits,” he said. “VA statistics show they (the American Legion) are doing over 60% of all the claims in the state of Iowa.”

The American Legion Family

There are three other organizations that have been formed to help support the American Legion: the American Legion Auxiliary, Sons of the American Legion and American Legion Riders.

• American Legion Auxiliary:

Founded in 1919, The American Legion Auxiliary has nearly 1 million members from all walks of life. The Auxiliary administers hundreds of volunteer programs, gives tens of thousands of hours to its communities and to veterans, and raises millions of dollars to support its own programs, as well as other worthwhile charities familiar to Americans. It is all accomplished with volunteers.

• Sons of the American Legion

The Sons of the American Legion were founded in 1932, and exists to honor the service and sacrifice of Legionnaires.

It may be the Sons of The American Legion that Peterson feels could be the future of Peterson Post No. 431.

“As our membership decreases, I can see the Sons, hopefully, be the ones that are going to keep doing what we do,” he said. “At some point and time, it could be, we will be a historical statistic in Gowrie. Hopefully we can keep going, but it is tough to get these younger guys and gals to join.”

• American Legion Riders:

American Legion Riders chapters are well known for their charitable work, which has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for local children’s hospitals, schools, veteran’s homes, severely wounded service members and scholarships. Since 2006, Riders nationwide have participated in The American Legion Legacy Run to annually raise money for the Legacy Scholarship Fund, established to provide scholarships to children of U.S. military personnel killed since Sept. 11, 2001.

Peterson Post No. 431

Peterson said Peterson Post No. 431 was chartered with close to 40 members in 1920. The post is named after Oscar Peterson, who was killed in action on July 26, 1918, fighting with the 186th Regiment, 42nd Division at Chateau Thierry, France.

Although three other men from Gowrie died while serving the United States in World War I, Oscar Peterson was the only one killed in the line of duty. The other three succumbed to influenza — Henry Palm and brothers William and Albin Youngquist.

In the beginning, a popular part of The American Legion was for posts to have their own drum corps.

The “Gowrie Gauchos” drum corps was formed from Peterson Post No. 431.

“They attended conventions and competitions,” said Peterson. “We won state contest a couple of years. Winning your state convention, you represented your state at the national convention. Those parades back then used to last seven to eight hours — there were so many people and so many bands and drum corps.”

Peterson Post No. 431 is very well known for all of its work during Gowrie’s annual Fourth of July celebration.

“We have always been a large supporter of the Fourth of July celebration,” Peterson said, adding the post was one of the main organizations that helped to start the annual celebration in Gowrie.

One way the group always makes a big impact is during the parade. They put together each year, several floats featuring the flags of veterans from the community — something they have been doing since the early 1970s.

They have grown over the past 50 years from just 15 flags up to nearly 300.

Peterson Post No. 431 members also provide military honors during veteran funerals. So far, they do not require veterans to be a Legion member.

“I enjoy it, because it’s an honor. I think, to me, it is just a thing we need to do,” said Peterson. “It’s an honor that someday, my wife and kids will get.”

Become a member

Peterson said there are 6.2 million veterans in the United States that are eligible to join the American Legion.

“We only have 2 million members,” he said. “We don’t even have a third of the people that could be members.”

To find out about eligibility of the American Legion, American Legion Auxiliary or Sons of the American Legion, Peterson encourages people to visit the American Legion’s website.

“We have a good group of people. We enjoy our time,” he said. “The fact is, we do so much for so many.”

Meeting notes from one of the Peterson Post’s first meetings

March 4, 1920

Service Men Meet

A good number of ex-service men met in the Commercial Club room last Friday night and completed plans for an American Legion Post at this place. There were about 40 present – the members of the Legion and other ex-service men who also joined. The local post is Peterson Post, No. 431 of the Iowa Department has been named after Oscar Peterson who died fighting with the famous 186th Regiment at Chateau Thierry.

Various questions regarding the post were discussed and plans were made for recruiting all service men into the organization and to make a larger live post. All men anywhere near Gowrie are invited to fall in as their slogan is “Let’s stick together.”

Plans for a building were discussed and the boys expect to have a worthwhile organization.

The boys do not expect to ask for any donations but if the boys do put on anything the community in general should assist.

Some of the boys gave months in toil, hardship suffering and risk of life.