Sons of the American Legion Squadron 179 History
September 12—15, 1932: The Sons of the American Legion (S.A.L.) is established as a non-political, non-sectarian civilian organization by the 14th National Convention of the American Legion in Portland, Oregon. The Sons of the American Legion exists to honor the service and sacrifice its members' parents and grandparents who served in the U.S. military and were eligible for American Legion membership. The Sons organization is divided into detachments at the state level and squadrons at the local level. A squadron pairs with a local American Legion post. A squadron's campaigns place an emphasis on preserving American traditions and values, improving the quality of life for our nation’s children, caring for veterans and their families, and teaching the fundamentals of good citizenship.
1939: Membership in S.A.L. is about 7 percent of the parent American Legion. The Sons group seems destined to grow. However, many members joined the Armed Forces during World War II but never returned. For those who did return, their service had made them eligible to join the ranks of the American Legion itself.
April 7, 1939: Comal Squadron 179 in New Braunfels, Texas is chartered.
1953: Membership in the Sons drops to 5,631 from a high of 72,633 in 1939. A major factor for the decline is due to the former Sons, now veterans of World War II, having almost no children in the immediate postwar years.
April 30—May 1, 1964: The National Executive Council (NEC) passes Resolution 22, urging that the S.A.L. “be encouraged and implemented by internal promotion and increased public recognition through the national Headquarters staff and the various Departments of the American Legion.”
1964: The Sons conducts its first National S.A.L. Workshop during the Legion’s National Convention in Dallas.
May 8—9, 1969: The Legion’s NEC gives its approval to Resolution 60, which creates a Sons of the American Legion Committee, consisting of four members and a chairman. Two of the members were from the ranks of the S.A.L., while the chairman and the other two members were Legionnaires.
May 3—4, 1972: The Legion’s NEC approves Resolution 13, creating a national S.A.L. organization under the full supervision and control of the Legion’s NEC, thus opening the door for the Sons of the American Legion to hold its first National Convention in Chicago in August 1972. Resolution 13 also rescinded in its entirety the old S.A.L. Constitution and by-Laws as adopted in 1933.
May 2, 1973: The Legion’s NEC approves Resolution 21, which establishes a procedure for handling matters originating from S.A.L. National Conventions and S.A.L. NEC meetings. All actions of the Sons of the American Legion National Convention and/or NEC are reviewed by the Legion’s Internal Affairs Commission. The Internal Affairs Commission then affixes to its report to the Legion’s NEC an addendum in digest form listing all such actions with a statement setting forth the Internal Commission’s disposition of each action. Unless specific contrary action is taken by the Legion’s NEC with respect to the addendum items, the disposition recommended by the American Legion’s Internal Affairs Commission becomes the disposition of the NEC.
October 17—18, 1973: The Legion approves Resolution 15, abolishing the National S.A.L. Committee created by Resolution 60 in 1969. Responsibilities of the National S.A.L. Committee are assigned to the Legion’s Internal Affairs Commission.
Late 1970s—1990: The formerly vibrant and active S.A.L. experienced a lull due in part to the decrease in numbers of military service members in this era, as well as the ending of most of the nation's big wars and conflicts. The Sons were reinvigorated at the beginning of the first Gulf War and have been going strong since.
2002: Comal Squadron 179 is re-chartered as Walton F. Hoffmann Memorial Squadron 179.