1976 Philadelphia Legionnaires' disease outbreak killed 16 persons out of 78 infected was later determined to be Legionnaires' disease. A September 1974 convention of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows was also held at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel. Out of approximately 1,500 members who attended, 20 developed pneumonia and two died. A later article in "The Lancet" reported: "Illness [high fever and pneumonia] was significantly associated with attendance at one convention activity held on Monday morning, September 16, 1974, in the grand ballroom of the hotel." 1976 Philadelphia Legionnaires' disease outbreak The 1976 Legionnaires disease outbreak, occurring in the late summer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was 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