Last Updated on January 2, 2023
There is no cost or obligation to become a member of The American Legion. You join by living a good life. All that we ask is that you aspire to live your life in accordance with the current version of the Legion’s twelve core values:
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How Much Does It Cost To Become A Lifetime Member Of The American Legion
American Legion Post 408 in Derby currently has 38 lifetime members. Those 38 members signed up for a plan that required a large, up-front free, which they believed was a one-time fee. But a recent change has posts across the state asking lifetime members to begin paying a yearly fee of $18.50 per lifetime member.
Tomas Leahy has been a lifetime member for 15 years. He paid $500 to join.
“We agreed to pay for life, to get the life membership, and all of a sudden we’re changing horses in the middle of the stream,” Leahy said.ADVERTISEMENT
A clause in the original agreement allowed American Legion posts to cover the costs of due increase over time. Now the funds to cover those increases have depleted, leaving members to foot the bill.
Post Commander Joe Dinino said there are a few options for members. They can either pay the $18.50 per year for a lifetime membership, get a regular membership for $40 a year, or sign up for a national lifetime membership.
“If I became a paid up life member for the national, at my age and in my category, I’d end up paying $751,” Leahy said. He said he is not willing to pay that extra money.
Leahy said the extra $18.50 is not a problem for him financially, but he said it goes against the principle of a lifetime membership and that something needs to change.
american legion benefits
The American Legion provides life-changing assistance and guidance for veterans, military personnel, their families and communities in thousands of ways every day around the world. Help comes in the form of personal assistance, cash grants, donated goods, disaster relief, labor, networking, volunteerism and advocacy.
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More Reasons to Join The American Legion
Free Subscription to The American Legion Magazine
Our nation’s leaders speak directly to citizens on the pages of The American Legion Magazine. The American Legion’s organizational goals are promoted using the words of talented writers, professional journalists, and world leaders.
Benefits Assistance
The American Legion offers expert advice, support and representation for veterans and families seeking government benefits they are eligible to receive at the federal, state and local levels.
Career Assistance
Hundreds of job fairs and career events every year, all across the map, are coordinated, sponsored, promoted or produced by The American Legion. American Legion business workshops also help veterans and their families pursue their entrepreneurial dreams.
Comfort for the Recovering
Operation Comfort Warriors helps active-duty military personnel and newly discharged veterans recover and adjust to lifestyle changes.
Education Assistance
The American Legion conducts student-veteran roundtables, networks with Student Veterans of America as well as college campuses, and works with agencies to better apply military experience toward professional and vocational licenses and certification credits.
Family and Community Support
Cash grants and volunteer aid are among the ways The American Legion reaches out to families of military servicemembers and veterans during times of financial difficulty, short-handedness at home or natural disaster.
Financial Services
The American Legion and USAA, two organizations driven by the same values for nearly a century, are allied through a “preferred provider” relationship that connects Legionnaires with the best advice and service in banking, insurance and personal finance.
Homeless Veteran Outreach
The American Legion offers hundreds of opportunities for homeless veterans across the country, including temporary housing, mentoring and job training.
Honor and Remembrance
American Legion honor guards provide official services at thousands of veteran funerals around the world each year. The Legion is also a leader at every level in the establishment and maintenance of memorials and monuments that honor military sacrifice.
Member Discounts
The American Legion offers members and their families practical, money-saving discounts that can easily save many times the cost of annual membership dues.
Advocacy in Washington
The American Legion is the nation’s most influential, effective and dependable advocate of veteran affairs fighting for better active-duty pay, improved housing for active-duty families and helping to ensure that the VA’s medical system can properly care for veterans.
Volunteer Opportunities
The American Legion offers volunteer opportunities that fulfill needs in local communities throughout the country and beyond. The Legion and the Sons of The American Legion provide millions of hours of free community service, assistance at VA medical facilities and help at military installations each year.
american legion membership requirements
Eligible veterans applying for first time membership must submit the following information to Post Membership Committee:
1. Complete American Legion Membership application (available from the Post)
Fill out two (2) completed copies. Keep one copy for your records. Mail or bring the other copy to the Post Adjutant, together with your dues payment.
2. Copy of DD214, DISCHARGE or AD ORDERS (see below)
Veterans’ Service Records – Recent military service and medical records are not online. However, most veterans and their next of kin can obtain free copies of their DD Form 214 (Report of Separation) and additional military service records
3. Membership Dues Payment (contact post for current amount). Make checks payable to our Post listed above. DO NOT SEND CASH.
4. If the information is correct, membership will be approved and then a membership card will be mailed to you.
5. Please see eligibility dates below.
TRANSFERS
Veterans applying for transfers from your current Post to our Post must submit the following:
a. Completed Member Data Form.
b. COPY OF DD214, DISCHARGE or AD ORDERS (see below)
c. COPY OF MEMBERSHIP CARD
6. Membership dues payment, if current year dues are not paid. If current dues are paid, please pay dues for next year’s membership.
Eligibility Information
If you have served federal active duty in the United States Armed Forces since December 7, 1941, and have been honorably discharged or are still serving – you are eligible for membership in The American Legion!
*Because eligibility dates remain open, all active duty members of the U.S. Armed Forces are eligible to join The American Legion at this time, until the date of the end of hostilities as determined by the government of the United States.
**U.S. Merchant Marine eligible only from December 7, 1941 to December 31, 1946 (WWII).
National Guardsman/Reservist must have served at least one day on federal active duty during any of the delimiting periods listed above, and either have an honorable discharge or currently be serving. The key to determining if a Guardsman/Reservist has been on federal active duty is the “Authority Line” on the activation orders of the Guardsman/Reservist. In both cases “Title 10, Subsection 672 or 12301” are orders from the Secretary of Defense and are federal orders.
*All Reserve components currently send their service members to “Basic Training” using Title 10, Subsection 672/12301 orders.
A person must have served at least one day of active military duty during one of the dates above and honorably discharged or still serving honorably.
Guard and Reserve; most of the people that are serving or served during the dates above will have military service that qualifies (details).
Because eligibility dates remain open, all members of the U.S. Armed Forces are eligible to join The American Legion at this time, until the date of the end of hostilities as determined by the government of the United States.
Veterans’ Service Records – Recent military service and medical records are not online. However, most veterans and their next of kin can obtain free copies of their DD Form 214 (Report of Separation) and additional military service records
For any questions please contact our membership chairman or any member of the Post.
The post may have additional organizations that you or your family members may wish to join:
The Sons of The American Legion was created in 1932 as an organization within The American Legion The S.A.L. is made up of boys and men of all ages whose parents or grandparents served in the United States military and became eligible for membership in The American Legion.
The American Legion Auxiliary is the largest patriotic women’s service organization in the world. Affiliated with The American Legion, the Auxiliary is a veterans’ service organization focusing on three major areas: veterans, young people and the community.
Eligibility Requirements for American Legion Auxiliary Membership
Membership in The American Legion Auxiliary shall be limited to the grandmothers, mothers, sisters, spouses, and direct and adopted female descendants of members of The American Legion, and to the grandmothers, mothers, sisters, spouses, and direct and adopted female descendants of all men and women who were in the Armed Forces of the United States during any of the following periods: April 6, 1917, to November 11, 1918; and any time after December 7, 1941; or who, being citizens of the United States at the time of their entry therein, served on active duty in the Armed Forces of any of the governments associated with the United States during any of said periods, and died in the line of duty or after honorable discharge; and to those women who of their own right are eligible for membership in The American Legion
