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Local Post part of national VFW organization
3
By Alton Bridge*
BUM Writer
The Veterans of Foreign Wars is
100 years old this year. The VFW
started on Sept. 29, 1899 when 13
Veterans of the U.S. 17th Infantry
Regiments who had fought in
Cuba during the Spanish-
American War.
The Veterans met in a little tailor
shop at 286 Main St. in
American Legion welcomes vets
By Alton Bridges
Staff Writer
On March 28, 1919, the Stars
and Stripes reported, “The A(mer
ican) E(xpeditionary) F(orces) as
a whole - doughboy, colonel and
general working together - orga
nized the American Legion this
month as its postwar association.”
, The “movement” to start what is
today the American Legion began
80 years ago March 15 at the
Cirque de Paris meeting hall. The
Armistice had been signed and
World War I was over. U.S. troops
were waiting to go home from
Europe. These soldiers decided to
form a new veterans “associa
tion? which is the largest organi
zation of U. S. veterans.
'The people who started the
American Legion included Eric
Fisher Woods, an architecture stu
dent in Paris before the war who
was an American embassy staffer,
correspondent, author and army
major.
Also: George Ared White, adju
tant of the Oregon National
Guard, served as chief personnel
officer of the AEF.
Columbia-educated Col.
William Joseph “Wild Bill”
Donovan was commander of the
Ist Battalion, 165th Infantry.
Col. and lawyer Bennett Champ
Clark, who had been parliamen-
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Columbus, Ohio to remember
their comrades who had been
killed in action. These veterans
wanted to remember their com
rades who had been killed in
action, share in the events that had
happened in the war and try to
help those who had survived the
first real military conflict after the
War Between the States.
James C. Putnam was just 31
years old when he pedaled his
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Photo/Tom Brooks
The American Legion Post in Forsyth County participates in sev
eral annual events at the City of Cumming Veterans War
Memorial including Memorial Day and Veterans Day programs.
tarian of the U.S. House of
Representatives from 1913 until
1917.
Maj. Thomas Woodnutt Miller
was Yale-educated and former
Delaware secretary of state and
congressman.
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was a
regimental commander in France
and a strong advocate of military
ARTS & COMMUNITY
bicycle through the neighbor
hoods in Columbus searching for
veterans of the 17th Infantry
Regiment, asking them to join
him in establishing the organiza
tion.
The Putnam family had fought
in every major battle since one of
his ancestors, Maj. Gen. Israel
Putnam, had served on the staff of
George Washington during the
American Revolution. Putnam
r preparation. He was the eldest son
I of a former President. Twice he
would be denied permission to
lead troops ashore during D-Day
on June 6, 1944 until he con-
I vinced Maj. Gen. R.O. Barton his
presence would “steady” the offi-
i
; See LEGION, Page 16D
himself had been shot in the leg
by a Sioux bullet in 1891 and later
joined the 17th Infantry as a
medic. At El Caney, Cuba, he
took a Spanish bullet in the neck
and had to return to the States.
Putnam and James Romanis, a
pharmacist, saw the problems of
sickened veterans who visited his
store and wanted to help them.
The 13 veterans met in Francis
Dubiel’s tailor shop. Dubiel was
dying from malaria that he con
tracted in Cuba. Five years later
he died.
The men who gathered at the
shop were George Beekman,
David Brown, Oscar Brookins,
John Clark, Charles Click, Bert
Dußant, Andrew Grant, George
Kelly, John Malloy, Putman,
See VFW, Page 16D
We’re There
For You
/ Why drive to Atlanta or Gainesville?
/ jfW \ All your rehabilitation services are
/ \ available in Cumming.
\ • Inpatient/Outpatient
Services Available
ii / * Physical Therapy
l! / • Occupational Therapy
\ / * Speech Language Therapy
/ Come In For A Tour Os Our
New Department, And Meet
Our Friendly, Caring Staff
Chestnut Ridge
Nursing & Rehabilitation Center
125 Samaritan Drive, Cumming, GA 30040
770-889-0120
——■■
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Sunday, March 28,1999 I
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Photo/Tom Brooks
Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9143 recently
raised the flag at the Baptist Medical Center ribbon-cutting.
PAGE 15D