- Todd McKinley
- Jan 9
- 3 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
Legion Family,
The first ever Legion Family Day on the Hill. will be held Thursday, March 12th in Nashville and will coincide with Be The One Day in Tennessee.
Location
We’ll meet on the 8th floor in conference room 8a of the Cordell Hull Building, as close to 8:00am as possible.
Cordell Hull State Office Building
425 Rep. John Lewis Way N,
Nashville, TN 37243
Trifold Handout
I'll have around 100 with me for Legion Family Day on the Hill.
Why only the Legion Family?
The Legion Family Day on the Hill shouldn't be confused with a Veterans Day on the Hill as this event is purely for the Legion Family, which includes the American Legion, the Sons of the American Legion and our #1 ally the Legion Auxiliary.
Q: Why aren't we looking to share our day with other fellow VSOs?
A: The reason is simple, I don't want our department's message to be lost in the shuffle. In other words, it's easier for an individual Legislator or the entire Legislature (which isn't going to happen) to ignore us when our message is drowned out by dozens of other Veteran Service Organizations. After all, we may not speak for other VSOs, but with everything we as an institution stand for, we look out for all Veterans and their families, especially orphaned children and widows. Also, if other organizations fail to comport themselves properly, then the Department of Tennessee will also get blamed and we'll certainly be ignored and likely not invited back in the future.
My Intent
My intent is to create an annual event that follows the national Washington Conference and falls on the 2nd Thursday every March. In fact, the Legion Family Day on the Hill will help make us a household name again by our department claiming the premiere spot as the “go to Veterans Service Organization” in the state, whether the state legislature asked or not. This is our state, we served her and our nation, and we will not be ignored!
No more playing second fiddle to outside forces who want to take advantage of our Veterans in the Volunteer State. Doing this will have a primary effect of ensuring the great Department of Tennessee is being heard and listened to by our elected officials, it will cement our place of being a go to when our legislators and their staff need advice or when they need a VSO to testify on any number of topics. Attacking this mission from this perspective will create buzz amongst other VSOs and Veterans alike, creating an ancillary effect of making recruiting somewhat easier. However, these primary and secondary effects must be taken advantage of by all active Legionnaires and the greater Legion Family, or they’ll wither on the vine.
Additionally, I would like to see all 95 counties statewide to make every 2nd Thursday in March as Be The One Day in their respective county, like my home county (Sullivan) is going to do this year. This will take work by every Post to get active and no better time like the Department Legislative Month.
Department Legislative Month
Folks,
March will be Department Legislative Month. What will that entail? Well, nothing if this isn't promoted and supported. Like most things, the same few at every level are the only ones who put in the time and effort only to be critiqued by those who stand idle on the sidelines or show up last second. Our society is collapsing because of this mentality, and our American Legion is in jeopardy because of this same thought process. Okay, enough of my rant, what am I asking of everyone in March. To put it mildly, it's simple, I'm asking every Post and Post leadership to attend their local county commission meetings, local boards of education, city council and other civic meetings and introduce yourselves, let them know what your Post brings to the table, simple. Mind you, this is something that every Post should be doing, and in some instances, this doesn't apply to you, but in most cases it likely does.
However, while you're at your local school board, please ensure to promote our programs and educate them on the amount of scholarship money we as an organization offer. Ask to be introduced to the school Principals, and the counselors and schedule an appointment to meet with them. By the end of March, the excuse "we can't get into the schools," will be a fallacy I hope I'll never hear again. After all, school board meetings are open to the public, in other words, if you can't go directly to your schools and be buzzed in, the attend your school board and county commission meetings.
“VOLS: Veterans Offering Lifelong Service”
Todd A. McKinley
Department Commander
American Legion Department of Tennessee
