Legion Wants Jobs for Returning Vets
August 28, 2011
Like the rest of the country, the 10,000 members of the American Legion meeting this week in Minneapolis have a message for their commander-in-chief: We need more jobs.
Specifically, the 2.4 million-member organization wants jobs for veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to those attending the group's 93rd national convention, which opened Friday and runs through Thursday at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
It is a message they hope their commanders will convey to President Obama on Tuesday, when he addresses the group, the largest wartime service organization in the country.
Veterans "have to have a job to come back to," said Cmdr. Tom Lannon of the Minnesota branch of the American Legion. "We need to let the president know that the people that are serving ... left their jobs to protect our lives."