Includes index.

Prologue : America in World war I -- Beginnings : Paris, January 1919 -- The veterans meet in America, May 8-10 -- The summer of 1919 -- Minneapolis convention, November 10-12, 1919 -- "Beneficial legislation" establishing veterans' rehabilitation standards, 1919-1924 -- Remaining relevant : amid the roar and the crash, 1925-1933 -- Recovery : the move toward a bill of rights for veterans, 1934-1944 -- Growth and reformation in the atomic age : the post-World war II American Legion, 1944-1949 -- The Korean war era, 1949-1955 -- Between the cease-fire and the firestorm, 1955-1965 -- Point and counterpoint : the Vietnam era, 1966-1976 -- Moment of pause, moment of reflection : pardon, Panama, preference and the color orange, 1977-1984 -- Standing guard : reckoning with "the deficit," 1985-1989 -- Epilogue : "walking the point".