Four Chaplians The Four Chaplains, also sometimes referred to as the "Immortal Chaplains" or the "Dorchester Chaplains", were four United States Army chaplains who gave their lives to save other civilian and military personnel as the troop ship SS Dorchester sank on February 3, 1943, during World War II. As soldiers rushed to lifeboats, Reverend George Fox (Methodist), Jewish Rabbi Alexander Goode, Reverend Clark Poling (Dutch Reformed) and Father John Washington (Roman Catholic) comforted ...

Stafford Post 290 will be providing a free dinner on January 24th for furloughed Government employees and their families to help during the government shutdown. Membership in the Legion is not required and will be served on a first come - first served until all of the food is gone. Stafford Post 290 is located at 1141 Mountain View Road, Fredericksburg, VA 22406. The meal will be served from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM. Please share this information with government employees and encourage them t...

The 16th District held the annual High School Oratorical contest Saturday, January 12th, 2019 at Stafford Post 290. Students were required to deliver their prepared oration in no fewer than eight minutes and no more than ten minutes. At the conclusion of the first round a assigned topic discourse was chosen at random and students were given 5 minutes to prepare for the delivery of their oration. They were then required to deliver their impromptu oration in no fewer than three minutes and no mor...

Please note that there has been a change in location for the 16th District Spring Conference. The conference will be held on Saturday, March 16 at Post 290 which is located at 1151 Mountain View Rd, Fredericksburg, VA 22406. The event starts at 1:00 PM with a free lunch provided by the gracious host Post. The conference starts at 2:00 PM. All Post Officers and Committee Chairs should be attending this event. All other Legionnaires should come meet your counterparts in other Posts, meet your ...

Recently we saw press reports that the President did not make the effort to visit our troops overseas in the war zone at Christmas. Then late Christmas day the media had to walk back those reports because while the media was broadcasting their reports the President was actually in Iraq visiting with the troops. Not only was the President there, but the First Lady along with several other high level dignitaries. So, how did this happen that the President was able to be half way across the ...

Post Commanders and Fellow Legionnaires: The Gun Show at Dulles is on for the last weekend in December! We picked up seven new members and one transfer from Post 141 at the last show in November and hope to build on that success. This event in Chantilly is a prime recruiting ground for both 16th and 17th Districts, so all are welcome to support. This time we have two tables versus one at the November show. I will be there throughout the event and appreciate any and all help we can get. The show ...

Terri Puckett has taken the helm as the new Chair of the District Oratorical Committee.  She will be managing the District Oratorical Contest which is scheduled for Saturday, 12 January at Post 290 in Stafford. Terri would like to keep track of your Post activities for Oratorical.  Please take a moment to contact Terri and let her know when you are having your Post events.  If you do not have the contact information for Terri, you can use the contact form on the district website (https://16dval...

Legionnaires from all over the District braved the extremely cold weather to represent The American Legion in the 2018 Leesburg, VA Christmas Parade. How cold was it? So cold that even the digital cameras had a hard time taking pictures. Leesburg Post 34 led the efforts represented by John Carty, John Ward and Nancy Ward. They were joined by members of Post 10 (Manassas), Post 150 (Sterling), Post 293 (Purcellville), Post 247 (Remington), and Post 330 (Culpeper). Despite being in the b...

The American Legion Centennial Gala Happy Holidays, Legion Family members! What better a gift than to buy your loved one a ticket to the Centennial Gala? Give them a chance to get out and have fun. This watershed event is already almost 30% sold out, and hotel rooms at the Marriott are going fast. The Department FaceBook page has it’s own section for the Gala. You can see it on Facebook and learn more about it. There is also a link on the Department website, and a flyer in the elevator and o...