American Legion Aerial Round-up

 

I recently received a message from the Department Historian, Fred Shacklett, as he had been contacted by a family member of Dr. Charles Curtis “CC” Wallingsford who had found a certificate identical to the one in the picture.  The Department Historian found the certificate shown in this article at the Department Headquarters, and it is made out to Ralph Heywood, former owner of Heywood’s Dry Goods Store in Avalon and a member of the Catalina Island American Legion Post.[1]  They were looking to know what the story behind the certificate was.

The American Legion Aerial Round-up started as part of a four-part membership drive program in 1930, but didn’t become official until Eddie Rickenbacker restarted the Aeronautics Commission in 1932.  The American Legion Aeronautics Commission had run into a brick wall in trying to get congress to fund aviation for defense and the voice of the Legion had been weakened when the American Legion airplane had crashed and the race to Paris was won by Charles Lindbergh.[2]  The National Aerospace Commission went for three years without a Chair, and the Department Commissions had looked inward for their aviation activities.[3]

In the 1930s, there were four major phases to the American Legion membership program; the annual telegraphic roll call held at the November conference in Indianapolis, the December 31st Christmas cleanup featured by about a third of the Departments, an annual radio  round-up in March climaxed on the 18th of that month with a national radio celebration of the Legion’s birthday, and the annual aerial round-up on May 1st when membership cards were brought to national headquarters in Indianapolis by airplanes.[4]

The aerial round-up, was the most dramatic phase of the Legion’s membership campaign.  At dawn early in May, airplanes soared into the sky at Portland, Los Angeles, New Orleans, and New York City, with membership cards and dues obtained since the March radio round-up.  As the airplanes flew towards Indianapolis, they picked-up at designated stops the reports of other Departments.  Many of the Departments located centrally sent their reports in their own planes.  Thus in the early years of the program, dozens of planes arrived in Indianapolis where they were met by Legion National officers who took charge of the reports.  By the fourth year of the program, the aerial round-up netted approximately 35,000 new members in 1934 and was seen as a tremendous success.

Since the very beginning of the American Legion, Legionnaires had worked to promote aviation, not just in the military services, but in the civilian sectors also.[5]  Thus, when Department Aeronautics Commissioners approached the military leaders and aviation industry in their states, they were eager to help.  By 1936, airlines like TWA and Eastern were transporting Aeronautics delegations to the round-up, as well as Army Air Corp and National Guard units.  In addition to the Department Commanders and Aeronautics Commissioners, additional seats to the annual round-up were offered to Legion leadership that attained the highest goals for the drive.[6]

Each year the annual round-up surpassed the goals and set new records for membership; and this was through the worst years of the depression.  More and more events were planned for around the day of card delivery, and so many planes flew in that thousands thronged to the Indianapolis airport to see the planes circle overhead and land.

By the end of the decade, around 100 military, commercial, and private planes were converging on the Indianapolis municipal airport bearing cargoes of membership cards.  The National Commander sponsored an annual banquet at the Indianapolis Athletic Club for all those flying in to deliver cards, and famous pilots and aviation industry leaders were invited as guest speakers.[7]

On 7 April 1940, the round-up had restored the American Legion to the coveted million member mark.[8]  The ninth annual aerial round-up in 1941 landed on a day with perfect weather for flying and huge crowds went to the airport to see the event.  In addition to the usual trophies and other awards, there were many friendly side wagers between Department Commanders as to who could surpass membership goals by the widest margins.  California often got the trophy for having flown the most miles on their trek to Indianapolis; zigzagging across the country to pick-up membership cards from other Departments.[9]^, [10]^{, and} [11]

The National Aerial Round-up was suspended during the war (1942-1945).  But in 1946 the successful program was quickly restored and it tripled the membership of the American Legion, surpassing three million members.  By this time, legionnaire Harry Truman was the president of the United States, and he personally got involved with the round-up signing the card of the member who broke the three million mark.[12]

After World War II an Air Force was created, something that the American Legion had fought for during the previous decades, and military National Guard and Reserve units were formalized with tight controls.  The commercial sector was the success that the Aeronautics Commission had also promoted during the lean depression years prior to the war, and it became less feasible to divert airplanes and aviation resources to the annual membership round-up.  The “National Aerial Round-up” program ended in 1949, with the “National Air Mail Round-up” starting in 1950; although many Departments continued the “Aerial Round-up” within their states while participating in the “National Air Mail Round-up.”[13]

Below are photos of some of the various cap pins that were awarded during the programs.

References:

[1] Diffin, H., “Did You Know?,” Catalina Islander newspaper, 25 May 1939, page 8, column 3.

[2] Burns, K., “The Story of the American Legion and the Great Transatlantic Race – New York to Paris – 1927,” American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Paper AIAA 2005-0120, published in the proceedings of the 43rd AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Reno, Nevada, 10 January 2005.

[3] Moley, R., “The American Legion Story,” Meredith Press, New York, NY, 1966, page 428.

[4] American Legion, “Four Major Phases for Membership,” The National Legionnaire, volume 1, no. 1, January 1935, page 6, columns 1 & 2.

[5] Burns, K., “Aerospace & American Legion heritage,” California Legionnaire newspaper, American Legion Department of California, Sanger, CA, April 2020, page 16.

[6] American Legion, “Reports Show Legion Advance,” The National Legionnaire, volume 2, no. 5, May 1936, pages 1 and 6.

[7] American Legion, “Seventh Aerial Round-up to Climax Legion’s 1939 Membership Program,” The National Legionnaire, Volume 5, Number 4, April 1939, page 1, column 5.

[8] American Legion, “Legion’s 9th Aerial Round-up Smashes Membership Records,” The National Legionnaire, Volume 6, Number 5, May 1940, page 15 columns 1and 2.

[9] American Legion, “‘Planes Poised for Aerial Trek to Indianapolis,” The National Legionnaire, Volume 7, Number 4, April 1941, pages 1 and 8.

[10] American Legion, “‘Planes Poised for Aerial Trek to Indianapolis,” The National Legionnaire, Volume 7, Number 4, April 1941, page 8, column 5.

[11] American Legion, “Legion’s 9th Aerial Round-up Smashes Membership Records,” The National Legionnaire, Volume 7, Number 5, May 1941, page 15 columns 1and 2.

[12] American Legion, “Aerial Round-Up Boosts Total,” The National Legionnaire, Volume 12, Number 9, 5 June 1946, page 1.

[13] American Legion, “Legion Plans Air Mail Member Round-up May 1st,” American Legion News Service, Number 174. 1950