... And here's Jim Stoll's response to The American Legions' Ron Engel:

James E. Stoll .
3862 Nowlin Rd., Kennesaw, Ga. 30144 770-966-8219 jestoll1@earthlink.net

May 16, 2006

The American Legion
700 North Pennsylvania St.
P.O. Box 1055
Indianapolis, Indiana 46206

Attn: Ronald A. Engle, Deputy Director
Americanism/Children & Youth Division

Refr: Unlawful Infiltration & Occupation by Foreign Nationals

Dear Mr. Engle,

I am in receipt of your letter of May 11, 2006, in response to my letter of May 6, 2006 to National Commander Thomas L. Bock. I must tell you that I was dumbfounded by the contents of your letter, which listed six (6) specific legislative positions that have been taken by the American Legion pertaining to what I consider to be the most serious problem facing our nation today, as referenced above. It is also a problem that our National Congress has been incapable of addressing since the attack on our nation by foreign nationals in 2001. I must ask; Why was I not aware of the fact that The American Legion had already taken these positions? I am a new member of The American Legion and I must be missing something. I have re-read the past three (3) issues of the Legion magazine, and I have searched the Legion web-site without finding a single reference to any of the official positions that were itemized in your letter.

When faced with a situation which could, and likely will, threaten the very survival of our nation as we know it, would it not make sense to inform the membership of The American Legion of the positions that its National Headquarters has taken to combat that eventuality . Would it not also make sense to urge each and every Legionnaire, and non-member veteran, to do his or her duty and write, call or visit their Congresspersons to make them aware of their displeasure with the methods now being proposed in our Senate to combat the problem. While our volunteer military forces are fighting and dying in an attempt to promote freedom in a foreign land that does not seem to want it, our Senate and our President are making a bold attempt to give our rights and freedoms away to an army of invading foreign nationals, free of charge, and even inviting them to expand their forces by issuing them legal work permits.

I would imagine that you all have a lot on your plates at National Headquarters, but it would seem to me that saving our nation from a threat of dissolution and\or destruction would take precedence over everything else The American Legion planned to do. Doesn't this issue demand at least the same attention as the Legion's recent request of the membership to urge passage of HR2679 and stop taxpayer funds to support the ACLU? What good would be achieved if you won every other position listed on the Legions legislative agenda and allowed our country to be destroyed, by our own Congress, while you were engaged in doing that. I am not opposed to any of the good things that The Legion plans to do but, as far as I am concerned, preserving the rights and freedoms of my nation should be the top item on every agenda.

It has been my opinion, for many years, that our Congress is incapable of governing our nation for the common good. I joined The American Legion in the hope that I could join my voice with a national organization, to rise up in unison, to tell our Congress to either start doing their jobs, in accordance with the oath they took, or get out of the way and let someone else do them. I believe my letter describes my position quite clearly. If, as you seem to indicate, The American Legion truly also supports that position, why isn’t it trying to sell the idea to the 25 million other veterans that exist out here. It is what seems to be a lackadaisical attitude toward a national catastrophe that disturbs me greatly.

Please enlighten me if I’m wrong.

Sincerely,

James E. Stoll
Active Member
American Legion Post 304

Cc: Thomas L Bock, National Commander