Dept. CDR's Final Update (June 28th)
- Todd McKinley
- 17 hours ago
- 7 min read
Legion Family,
My final shoutout goes to Tonya Launsby…pronounced “LAWNS-BEE,” who by the time most of you are reading this is now our Department Commander, please give her your 100% support as I will. Tonya is the first female to serve as Senior Vice Commander and is the second to serve as Department Commander, but she'll not be the last if I have anything to say about it. In fact, we have at least 4 women veterans who'll be fantastic Department Commanders in the coming years if they decide to pursue it, if so, call me.
Voter Voice
Check back Friday the 26th to see where we finished the week.
Housekeeping Note
I plan to keep the following blog category up for the foreseeable future, but don't expect any timely updates.
Also, I'll transfer all relevant information in the links below to the department and Commander Launsby in a responsible manner, in the meantime let's continue our rebranding efforts.
Money Saved
When I ran for Department Commander, I promised to save the department as much money as possible, especially given the financial state we find ourselves in. That said, I've saved the department around $3,500 on hotels and at least $10,000 in mileage. In fact, I only received two reimbursement this year and both were due to major maintenance on the Commander Mobile, plus I ate the cost for another service for about $50, saving the department around $14,000 in reimbursements, but I did take reimbursements from attending national events.
Self Assessment of My Goals
In this section, I plan to give my self assessment of how I believe my year went using my 2025-26 Department Commander Goals & Platform blog post. Below you'll find that I've went through every section and have given a brief assessment of how I feel I did this year went.
I adopted the Vision Statement from national, and my annual motto was VOLS: Veterans Offering Lifelong Service, which I feel was/is spot on. When it came to my support of our Chaplains, I feel I was more than encouraging, in fact, I set up Chaplain Shoney's page on the department website, give his blog update a weekly read.
When it came to the Communication section, you'll note six subsections, regarding communicating with key personnel, such as the Senior Vice, I feel I delivered on this, however, I decided that a monthly department wide email would be redundant, but occasionally I did send emails with a wide audience. When it came to revamping the department website, I have to report that the website functions are a bit antiquated, but I did update the website (www.tennesseelegion.org), and I posted weekly blog updates, and I certainly utilized social media to great effect including holding my twice monthly Tennessee Commander's Chats, for a total of 25, which was watched by around 175-200 each.
When it came to Committee Assignments, I promised to empower everyone who accepts a Chairmanship or any position to do the requisite work without interference if everyone is following the constitution and bylaws as well as state and federal laws. Albeit, I could have been more hands on in some areas, I feel I lived up to the basics of this promise. In fact, we enjoyed weekly & monthly success when it came to our efforts on Voter Voice, keep up these efforts.
I feel when it comes to Community Engagement & Public Outreach, I feel I've been out-front and forward in this catagory. In fact, I published 5 Legiontown articles, sat for dozens of interviews, including national television and local and national radio shows and podcasts, on-top of my other efforts.
When it comes to the Membership category, I feel we reaffirmed our relationship with our equal and our #1 ally, The American Legion Auxiliary. I certainly hope we helped them in accomplishing their mission this year as much as they've helped us. Our Sons of the American Legion (SAL), were fantastic as always, of which I'm a proud member.
We didn't quite grow as much as I wanted to (or at all), but I did have the honor of presenting a couple of charters this year and we blew it out when it came to our perpetual Be The One mission. My next to last category was Training, the Department American Legion College was a success, albeit, I wanted to host a much larger class, however, we did host many Basic Training & Be The One classes and our Riders held the first ever Be The One Mid-South Roundup, which set the tone for next year. The final category was titled Other Goals, which in this category, the onus was placed on the Post level, for this, I'll leave it to the Post level to asses their respective efforts.
Book
To help end suicide in all demographics, stop bullying in our schools, combat Post Traumatic Stress, Traumatic Brain Injuries, Military Sexual Assault Trauma, and more we officially launched Tennessee’s Be The One Commission to End Veteran Suicide on August 16th. To help fund the commission I wrote a book titled “Those Left Behind: Veteran Suicide and My Late Best Friend Brad Bush” and hoped I would’ve sold more copies by now, but I’m plugging along.
More about the commission: www.toddmckinley.com/post/betheonetn
More about the book: www.toddmckinley.com/book
Full disclosure!
I purchased 200 books at the author rate totaling $775 (which I recouped), just before the Department Convention in 2025, where I sold 24 books at $15 totaling $360. Add to this $20 in donations, bumping the total for the weekend to $380, which I donated to the Department Chaplain at convention.
On August 16th & 24th, I donated a total of $490 from in person sells directly to The Be The One Commission. I’ve also personally (not from book sells) sponsored to have Brad’s name appear on Ed Bray’s race car the past 2 years at a total of $600.00 ($300 annually). Although Ed said he would put it on anyway, I felt Brad wouldn’t have wanted a freebie on an issue like this, especially given the cost of running a race car at any level. Through subsequent in person book sells, I've been able to donate a total of $990 to The Be The One Commission. Finally, I’ve sat for several interviews on many different platforms & publications promoting the book and the American Legion as well as our Be The One mission.
My overall goal is to sell 1K books, but to do that I need help.
My Upfront Cost: 200 Books $775 (I've recouped)
Donated to the Commission: $1,480
Donated to the Chaplain: $380
Donated to Ed Bray: $600 (Personal out of pocket cost)
Total Donated: $2,460
In Person Sells: 165
Sells Online: 134
# of Books Donated: 31
Total: 330
Buy Now: https://a.co/d/dlXiNoF
Final Remarks
That said, it's been an honor serving as your Department Commander this past year. Together we’ve accomplished a lot, we launched the Be The One Commission in August of 2025 with the motto “VOLS: “Veterans Offering Lifesaving Services,” and to help fund the commission I’ve been selling my book “Those Left Behind: Veterans Suicide and My Late Best Friend Brad Bush.” www.toddmckinley.com/book
It’s been reported that we’ve had 47 Posts participate in a Be the One event. The majority have been a run/walk style event, some Posts have held more than one this year. Out of the 47 Posts, 13 have held at least one bake sale, 9 have held yard sales, 2 regularly hold coffee with a vet, while one helps hold a monthly Veterans Café county wide.
March 12th, 2026, was designated Be The One Day in Tennessee through a Joint Senate & House resolution, we’ve had many counties and cities hold or proclaim Be The One or American Legion days as well. We’ve held several in person classes which saw hundreds attend at least one class. There’s been a handful of documented incidents where Legionnaires and members of the Legion Family have had to step in and truly Be The One. We held a Legion Family Day on the Hill on March 12th, where Legion Family members were recognized from the floor of the House and Senate, and we actually were allowed to speak on the floor of the Tennessee Senate about our Be The One mission which saw a standing ovation from the members of the Senate and a commitment from them to collectively Be The One. Accompanying us that day were our youth champions, Gina Harjani, Cooper Castle and Reed Bull who gives us hope for the future and a feather in the cap of our Americanism and Children & Youth Chairs. Our Legislative Committee saw some victories with the state legislature, namely brokering a bipartisan compromise on a bill that removed “Veterans Service Advocate,” and ensure that all 95 counties are serviced by a Veteran serving as a Veterans Service Officer. We also received great feedback on our “Project 316,” end of life care bill.
Our advocacy in the courtroom is growing, thank you to Bob Hensley for brokering a “Veterans Court” in Washington County and thank you to everyone who participate in them, ask Dwight Woodcock about their importance and why you should be an advocate. Remember, we shouldn’t be afraid to embrace new technology while ensuring we honor our shared traditions, we didn’t do it in the military, and we’ll not do it now. I can’t thank everyone, but thank you to every officer, committee & commission chair and member, thank you to Adjutant Tuttle and Griffin and their families, thank you to our National Vice Commander, NEC who also rocked membership (take a note folks), Debi Cole, Shannon Rasmussen, Tonya & Jean, Dwight, Ron, the entire SAL and our #1 ally the Auxiliarry.
Thank you to Jared, Bud and the entire Riders who held the first ever Be The One Mid-South Roundup in Cookeville, TN, which was attended by David Heredia the National Riders Chair. Finally, we’ve promoted the mission for years through art and painting “Be The One Rocks.” Thank you to Carrie Carpenter, and my Be The One reason for not giving up, Ellie aka “TechnicEllie,” and Anna aka “Colonel Cotton,” thank you and the entire Legion Family.
“VOLS: Veterans Offering Lifelong Service”
Todd A. McKinley
Department Commander
American Legion Department of Tennessee
