institution and
-Laws Chairman
udies Eligibility
ome questions have arisen
the eligibility to membership
he American Legion Auxili
of mothers, sisters, daugh
and wives of men killed in
ea. according to Mrs. Flor
? Thornton, Department Con
ition and Bylaws Chairman,
he Council General's opin
on the matter is that in view
he fact that the aid given to
th Korea at present is pursu
to action taken by the
ted Nations, and not inde
iently by the United States,
aes not amount to a declara
of war by our country,
sequently the question rela
to status of women whose
have been killed in Korea
ie for later determination,
rs. Thornton. Department
stitution and Bylaws Chair
, was Department President
he American Legion Auxili
in 1935-36. She presided at
Seward convention in Sep
aer, 1936. At that time she
Miss Florence Tobin,
le has held several chair
ships in her unit and the
artment. She is a charter
iber of the Ketchikan Unit
;h was organized in 1921
has been consistently active
* that time.
uring the past year while
ence was employed by the
;t Guard at Juneau she at
ed Juneau Unit meetings
activities. She has now re
ed to Ketchikan, being em
ed by the Office of Price
dlization.
rs. Thornton states she has
very good cooperation from
unit in her chairmanship
x this year. A few of the
5 need to bring their laws
o date, but as a whole they
quite well covered.
S. McLain, Past Corn
ier Jack Henry Post No. 1,
>ast Commander of Ameri
,egion Department of Alas
luring which time he was
;r of many national mem
^ip awards- He is now
lg as National Executive
litleeman and is rcspon
for much of the prestige
|nily held by our Depart
in National circles.
The Same Old Story
;k>naire: Wat’s th’idear I
get my Legion Magazine?
ljutant: Ho-hum—possibly
lidn’t receive my notice for
I Post dues yet either??
AUXILIARY CALENDAR OF ACTIVITIES
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Legislative and National Security
Americanism
Community Service
Child Welfare and Pan American Study
Poppy
Junior Activities
Girls State
Convention Month
Music
Education of Orphans of Veterans
Membership
Rehabilitation
Alice Day, Sitka, Takes Prize in Territorial
Essay Contest With "A Study In Loyalty11
By Alice Day
Last night when I came home
from school, I asked my dad if
he would take a little time to
talk with me about American
ism. I realize that he doesn’t
know all of the answers, but
once in a while I get a good idea
from him. This time I think he
has the right idea.
He started by saying some
thing like this: “Americanism
is not simply the definition you
will find in the dictionary. It has
a great deal to do with loyalty,
to be sure. But you must first
understand what it is to which
you are loyal. You can boast all
over the place about the bonds
which you have bought at a
great sacrifice (but, who makes
the profit when the bonds have
matured?); you see, then, that
this kind of loyalty is mixed a
little with greed, which is only
a crude w’ay of saying that you
are looking out for your own
future above everything else.
“No, Alice, Americanism has
been the text and topic of a lot
of speeches by congressmen and
others, when what they really
were saying was, ‘WHAT WILL
THIS GET ME?’ But, I believe
that real Americanism is called
to mind by many of the heroic
deeds of Americans in the past,
and of some Americans still liv
ing, too.
“Think about the poorly
clothed and equipped soldiers in
Washington’s Colonial Army—
by all rights they didn’t have a
chance to win the war and their
freedom. But they sacrificed
much—and won both!
“Later, there were a lot of
people who were willing to risk
their security in order that
America might remain the
UNITED States. They wanted
citizenship and freedom for all
Americans alike. America was
no good divided; it just had to
be ONE nation.
“The two World Wars made
heroes of a lot of people in
America who would have rather
lived at home, unknown, than to
become heroes at the risk of life
or crippling injury. However,
there was an ideal at stake, and
that ideal was freedom for all
of America’s people.
“Let me illustrate what I
mean. You may not remember
this, but it really happened back
in 1944 in New Jersey.
“In a section of the state
where there was very rich farm
land most of the farmers speci
alized in truck farming. They
raised vegetables for the people
in New York and the metropoli
tan area. Most of these city
people knew nothing of the toil
involved in producing even one
head of lettuce. These New
r
Jersey farmers were of Europe
an decent, with unpronounce
able names. They were having
great difficulty in securing
enough workers to plant and
harvest their crops because so
many of their sons and daught
ers were in the armed forces of
the United States.
“So it was suggested that the
loyal Japanese, who had been
forcibly removed from just such
farming areas on the West Coast
should be brought to Great
Meadows to help with the crops.
All of these Japanese had passed
rigid F. B. I. loyalty tests.
“But do you think that these
New Jersey farmers would
allow it? What they actually did
was to burn the barnlike bar
racks in which the Japanese
were sleeping on the night of
their arrival, and drive them
into the night with shotguns!
And all of the villagers ap
plauded!
“That is, all but one. This one
was a sudent minister in the
local church. He felt that this
action was a contradiction of all
that our country was fighting
for. In a town meeting, where
the situation was being debated
by all the towns’ people, he
alone spoke out in defense of
freedom and individual rights
You might expect that such a
speech would have had no ef
fect, but you would be wrong!
A reporter from The New York
Times was in the meeting. The
New York Times not only pub
lished the story, but also carried
an editorial about it. Life mag
azine told the story to the nation
in pictures and editorials. Lee
Underhill lost some popularity
in Great Meadows, but he was
applauded in hundreds of other
towns for upholding the cause
of American freedom. Here was
Americanism at its best. Here
was sturdy individualism on dis
play again as it had been time
and again since earliest Colonial
American times.
“This act was loyal American
ism on parade. It was loyalty to
the highest ideals of the Ameri
can tradition. The American
spirit must of necessity do battle
with dictatorship. America is
governed by the people. Its gov
ernment is of the people, by the
people, for the people.
“We may not want a name
that sounds Japanese or Polish
or Italian, but we will still fight
so that the people with these
funny-sounding names may
share our freedom with us.”
I think Pop was right this
time. I believe in this kind of
Americanism, too.
ALICE DAY
DEPARTMENT CHAIRMEN
1950-1951
Americanism . Esther Clithero, Sitka
Child Welfare . Lorene Tuengel, Sitka
Community Service . Pearl LeFevre, Cordova
Constitution and Bylaws . Florence Thornton, Ketchikan
Education of Orphans of Veterans - Ethel Lindley, Anchorage
Finance . Maude Hartman and Eleanor Bell, Anchorage
Foreign Relations . Esther Clithero, Sitka
Junior Activities and Girls’ State .
Alice Longworth, Petersburg
Legislative . Henrietta Schaub, Ketchikan
Membership . Izola Sims, Palmer
Music . Sandra Zenger, Juneau
National Security and Civil Defense .
Ethel Tonseth, Fairbanks
Pan American .Catherine Teets, Fairbanks
Past Presidents Parley . Nema Ellis, Anchorage
Poppy . Thelma McKinney, Anchorage
Publications . Nola Campbell, Anchorage
Radio . Marguerite Nichols, Fairbanks
Rehabilitation ... Edith Davis, Anchorage
U. S. Savings Bonds .-.—- Beth Nordling, Juneau
Parliamentarian . Ethyl West, Ketchikan
Ncma EHis To Preside
Over Past
President's Luncheon
Noma Ellis, Department Chair
man of the Past Presidents’
Parley, will preside over the
Past Presidents’ luncheon dur
ing the American Legion Auxili
ary convention here, at which
time reports will be heard from
the Unit Past Presidents cover
ing their activities during the
current year.
At the 1943 convention held
in Sitka Mrs. Ellis initiated, as
a special project for the Past
Presidents, the Hospital Christ
mas Gift Shop Program, to aug
ment the Rehabilitation pro
gram and to assist tiie Auxiliary
Volunteer Hospital Workers and
the Gift Shop chairmen in mak
ing the Christmas season for the
hospitalized veterans a more
nearly normal and happy one.
Gift Shops have now been
established by the American
Legion Auxiliary in many of the
Veterans Hospitals through the
continental United States.
To fulfill the Christmas needs
of the hospitalized veterans the
Gift Shop chairman collects the
gifts are selected the Gift Shop
early Fall of the year. In the lat
ter part Of November and early
December the gift shops are set
up in the hospitals, patterned aft
er gift shops in regular depart
ment stores. Each patient is pri
vileged to “go shopping" for gifts
for every member of his or her
family, relatives and friends, at
no cost to the patient. After the
gifts are selected the Gift Shop
workers wrap them in gay
Christmas paper, enclose a greet
ing card from the patient and
mail them to the names and ad
dresses designated by the patient.
Gifts are loaded onto carts and
wheeled into the rooms of the
patients who are confined to
their beds and unable to shop
otherwise.
Because of the increasing num
ber of veteran patients due to the
Korean war and the opening oi
new veteran hospitals during the
year, Mrs. Ellis has requested all
Past Presidents to make the Gift
Shop work a year-round program
and to collect as many articles a«
possible for the coming Christ
mas season.
Mrs. Ellis has been active in
the Department Auxiliary foi
many years. She held the posi
tion of Department Secretary
Treasurer for three years; made
an outstanding record in popp>
sales during her three years a:
Department Poppy Chairman
distributed over 1,000 copies o:
the Americanism Booklet te
Units, schools and court:
throughout the Territory during
her year as Department Ameri
canism Chairman; won the Na
tional award in the “Nationa
News” contest during her yeai
as Publication Chairman; servec
one year as Department Reha
bilitation Chairman, Nationa
Security Chairman, and tw<
years as Department Member
ship Chairman.
She was a member of the Na
tional Executive Committee
and a member of the Nationa
Poppy Committee as Chairmai
of the Poppy Window Display
Contest.
By reason of having servec
the Alaska Department tw<
years as Department President
Mrs. Ellis also acquired, throug]
the rotation system, a two-yea
Greeting 5 From The
Past National
Chaplain Ethyl West
mmmmsm mm ,,, ■ 1
Greetings, Legionaires and
Auxiliary members, Department
•of Alaska;
Once more convention season
rolls around, when most of our
Departments hold their annual
meetings, to report and review
their work of the past year and
to elect their leaders for the
year ahead.
These meetings serve a splen
did purpose, or rather many
purposes. They not only stimu
late and bind our organizations
more closely together in unity
ol purpose, but also they develop
friendship and understanding
that strengthens the bond§ be
tween our American Legion and
its Auxiliary, and demonstrates
a wholesome capacity for whole
some enjoyment in the company
of friends and fellow members.
Our preamble to the Constitu
tion teaches us the virtues of tol
erance and kindliness, forgive
ness and understandings which
we may practice to our own
great good as well as those who
are the object of it.
We are Americans all. We
must have faith in our God, in
ourselves and in the basic prin
ciple of our Americanism. We
hold our national heritage to be
God-given and must continue to
guard it zealously from all isms
forgeign to the principles, not
only from outside our borders
but also from within. What bet
ter medium than our own or
ganizations can be found to carry
out this purpose?.
As members we owe a debt of
gratitude to the officers and
chairmen of this Department of
Alaska, who endeavor to carry
out our extensive program, un
der difficulties and handicaps
not encountered in other De
partments. We can show our ap
preciation by giving them our
full support whenever possible
in carrying out our pledge to
“God and country".
Unforseen circumstances,
changes the pattern of our lives,
but. nothing can take away the
memories of that privilege of
serving as member and officer
on the Unit, Department and Na
tional level and for which I am
very grateful.
May this 1951 Department
convention, American Legion
and American Legion Auxiliary
Seward, Alaska be the most con
structive and richest of all time.
Ethyl M. West
I IN MEMORIAM
; It is with deep regret that we
; announce the death of Thelma
Smith, President of Valdez Unit,
early in July, in an automobile
[ accident. Mrs. Smith was Pre
sident for 1951.
[ The Department of Alaska
also announces with sorrow the
l passing of Amelia Gunderson of
> Ketchikan Unit No. 3, on Aug
ust 11, 1951. Mrs. Gunderson has
served on the Territorial Legis
lature for several years, with
her main interest legislation that
[ protects and betters conditions
j for children and youth.
Charlotte Lesko
Dept. Chaplain
I
> assignment as Department Chair
, man of the Past Presidents’
i Parley, her second year closing
r with this convention.