The 4 Pillars

Still Serving: It’s Who We Are

In 1919, The American Legion was founded on four pillars: Veterans Affairs & Rehabilitation, National Security, Americanism, and Children & Youth. Each of these pillars encompasses a variety of programs that benefit our nation’s veterans, its service members, their families, the youth of America and ordinary citizens. These programs make a difference in hundreds of thousands of lives each year.

The pillars are us, and we are them. The pillars are our values, our beliefs, what we take pride in, and they shape our work and what we do for America. The Four Pillars of Service are simply an index of values under which many various programs and activities of The American Legion fall. The Four Pillars of The American Legion have remained unchanged since our founding in 1919.

Pillar-1 Veterans Affairs & Rehabilitation

• Access to VA Care

• Better Funding Formula

• Support for Veterans with Special Needs

• Career Opportunities

• A GI Bill for a New Century

• Employment and Business

• Heroes to Hometowns

• Volunteering

• Final Respects

Pillar-2 National Security

• Strong National Defense

• Military Quality of Life

• Homeland Security

• Foreign Relations

• Full Accounting of POW/MIAs

• Operation Comfort Warriors

Pillar-3 Americanism

• Flag Protection

• Illegal Immigration

• Voter Registration and Participation

• Boy Scouts

• The Pledge of Allegiance

• Establishment-Clause Lawsuits

Pillar-4 Children & Youth

• Catastrophic Illness

• Intellectual Disabilities

• Immunization

• Family Integrity

• Media Violence

• Drug Abuse

• Child Sexual Exploitation