Truly AMVETS was born in the midst of war, for
it was in August 1943, with
victory still two years away, that a new organization, later to be known as American Veterans of
World War II, had its beginning. Overseas the tide of battle was turning. The Allies had swept
through North Africa and Sicily. In the Pacific fighting raged in New Guinea. Thousands of Americans
had made the supreme sacrifice. Thousands more were being mustered out of uniform with battle
wounds and medical discharges. These men who fought in history's greatest war found it natural
to seek each other's company. They were united by similar experiences---in jungles, in the Arctic, in
deserts, in mountains, at sea, and in the skies. Thus, out of such comradeship, AMVETS came to be
.
Two independent veterans clubs in Washington, D.C. - one formed on the
campus of George Washington University, the other among veterans employed by the government -
joined together to sponsor a servicemen's party. By September 1944 other such veterans' clubs organized throughout
America - in California, Florida, Louisiana, New York, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and
Texas. On November 11, 1944, Veterans Day, an article entitled "12,000,000 in Search of a Leader"
appeared in Collier's Magazine. This story, written by Walter Davenport, introduced the clubs and
outlined their mutual aims:
In December, 18 leaders, representing these nine groups, met in Kansas City, Mo. There, on
December 9, 1944, a national organization was formed known as the American Veterans of World
War II--or AMVETS, as newspaper headline writers took to calling it. The White Clover, meaning
"Remember Me," was chosen as the official flower of AMVETS. Found not only in America but also
throughout the world, it symbolizes the states from which U.S. Armed Forces were drawn and the
worldwide battlefields on which they fought
.
In October 1945, two months after the end of World War II, the first national convention was
convened in Chicago. The next year AMVETS petitioned Congress for a federal charter. In the
words of the Senate Judiciary Committee the organization being "organized along sound lines and
for worthy purposes ... having demonstrated its strength and stability, is entitled to the stability and
dignity which a national charter will afford." On July 23, 1947, President Harry S. Truman signed the
AMVETS Charter.
When the war broke out in Korea in 1950 and again during the Vietnam crisis in 1966, AMVETS
requested Congress to amend the charter so that those serving in the Armed Forces would be
eligible for membership. On September 14, 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the bill
redefining the eligibility dates for AMVETS membership-- "Any person who served in the Armed
Forces of the United States of America or any American citizen who served in the armed forces of
an allied nation of the United States on or after September 16, 1940, and on or before the date of
cessation of hostilities as determined by the government of the United States is eligible for regular
membership in AMVETS, provided such service when terminated by discharge or release from
active duty be by honorable discharge or separation." On May 7, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford
signed Proclamation 4373, terminating the Vietnam era and the cessation of hostilities; the next
day the Armed Forces became a peacetime service
.
For nearly 10 years AMVETS did not accept into membership servicemen and women who served
after May 7, 1975, Then, on May 31, 1984, President Ronald Reagan signed Public Law 98-304,
which amended AMVETS' congressional charter to open the organization's membership to those
who served honorably and actively after May 7, 1975. Today, in recognition of the sacrifices made
by all veterans and service personnel, membership in AMVETS is open to all American veterans
who have served or are serving in the Armed Forces of the United States during and since World
War II.
