Just Sayin': American Legion marks 100 years of service to vets

It’s not often that nearly 2 million men and women celebrate a 100th anniversary. The largest wartime veterans service organization, the American Legion, is marking its first century of service to fellow veterans and America.

On March 15, 1919, after World War I, a group of military service members met in Paris to form the American Legion. Army Col. Theodore Roosevelt Jr. of Oyster Bay, son of the former president, was among them. A congressional charter was granted Sept. 17 that year to officially recognize the organization.

So, wish us a “Job well done” as we begin our next century to continue to serve our fellow veterans and their families.

Phil Strehl,

  Farmingdale

Editor’s note: The writer is commander of the Hugh C. Newman III American Legion Post 449 in Farmingdale.

Potholes, why can’t we make you disappear?

Dear Pothole,

I know you don’t mean to drive us crazy with all the accidents, costly car repair bills or safety issues you cause. And you’re right, Pothole, snowplowing contributes, so it’s not all you. Still, we run across you several times in our daily lives. Driving routes are even changed to avoid roads that are pothole alleys.

And those town highway superintendents who swore they’d get rid of you? They must secretly love you because I see more and not fewer of you.

Sure, there are workers patching potholes, but it’s not effective in the long run.

Since we have space explorations on Mars, shouldn’t we have the technology to make better road material?

Griffin Walls,

  Huntington