American Legion Launches Heroes To Hometown Program
American Legion Launches
Heroes To Hometown Program
ROCKY HILL â The American Legion has launched a new program called Heroes to Hometown that encourages local American Legion units to support troops as they arrive home from deployments. This program links troops to their hometowns, and guarantees they will receive a more welcome homecoming than that given to US troops coming home from the Vietnam War.
Through the Heroes to Hometown program, the American Legion will act as a catalyst for the Department of Defense in setting up community networks to provide long-term support for severely injured veterans and their families.
The purpose of the program is to identify and coordinate resources in the local community to assist the severely injured service member and their family before their actual return to the community.
The American Legion will serve as the organizational point of contact in each state in forming local community Heroes to Hometown committees. To create these committees, the Legion will coordinate with local veteran service and other nonprofit organizations, business leaders, chamber of commerce, state and local governments, Congressional liaisons, financial and legal, educational, and religious institutions, local military units, unions and other organizations interested in providing support. The American Legion does not preclude other nonprofit organizations from providing similar support.
The American Legion National Headquarters will appoint Heroes to Hometown representatives in each state and these individuals will communicate directly with the Department of Defense state liaisons, the military Service Severely Injured Program staff, care managers, and counselor advocates.
National Headquarters will also provide a representative to staff the American Legion Heroes to Hometowns information desk to be located at the Pentagonâs MSCI office.
Alice Saxton of Newtown, the department president of the American Legion Auxiliary, took office July 8, at the American Legion Department Convention held in Rocky Hill.