American Legion at the convention and later became known as Legionnaires' disease ("Legionellosis"). The bacterium that causes the illness was later named "Legionella". In 1988, after over 44 years of opposing U.S. Merchant seamen from receiving benefits under the G.I. Bill, they allowed Merchant seamen to join The American Legion. This followed Merchant seamen being granted limited veterans status by the United States Secretary of the Air Force on January 19, 1988. After a 1989 U.S. Supreme Court decision ("Texas v. Johnson"), The American Legion launched and funded an unsuccessful campaign to win a constitutional amendment against harming the flag of the
American Legion by National Commander Franklin D'Olier helped achieve passage of this legislation by the end of 1919. The American Legion's chief base of support during its first years was among the officers corps of the reserves and the National Guard. The size of the regular army was comparatively small and its representation in the League in its earliest days was even more limited. Consequently, for nearly two decades The American Legion maintained a largely isolationist perspective, best expressed in three resolutions passed by the Minneapolis founding convention: 1. That a large standing army is uneconomic and un-American. National safety with freedom