Legion leader visits veterans

Legion leader visits veterans

The American Legion has been working hard to protect veterans' rights and preserve American values from groups that would seek to undermine them, the Legion's national commander said Wednesday.

"The American Legion is taking care of veterans and making sure the Veterans Affairs system is fully funded," said Thomas Bock, the national commander of the American Legion. "It is imperative that we as Americans stand up to take care of our heroes."

Bock was in Casper this week to attend this year's American Legion Region 7 Baseball Tournament at Mike Lansing Field. Bock was scheduled to throw out the first pitch this morning.

Bock said he was particularly frustrated with recent lawsuits made by the American Civil Liberties Union to remove crosses from veterans cemeteries and memorials and by attempts by the ACLU to prevent school children from reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

"The ACLU seems to want to attack anyone with moral values," he said. "The American Legion understands the relationship between God and country. That relationship is important to our foundation and to this country."

The lawsuits by the ACLU ask whether taxpayers should pay for religious displays on public land and whether students should be required to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

During the past year, Bock has visited all 50 states and dozens of countries overseas, including Iraq, Germany, Bosnia and Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. He said despite the negative reports in the media, our troops are making progress in Iraq.

"I talked with the troops in Iraq," he said. "Their morale is high. They are already seeing a difference on a day-to-day basis. The media are missing the real story of the successes over there."

Bock said during his last moments in Baghdad, he was talking with some troops in a mess hall and asked them if there was anything the American Legion could do for them.

"They said, 'We need high-speed Internet access. Our dial-up connection is too slow. And we want more NASCAR books and hot rod magazines,'" Bock said. "Not, 'We need more weapons,' or 'We need more armor.' Our troops are getting the equipment they need to do the job."

Bock served in the Air Force from 1966 to 1970 during the Vietnam War in the Strategic Air Command as part of the ground crew for B-52 bombers. He lives in Colorado and has a son who is an Army helicopter pilot in Iraq.

"Commander Bock is a tremendous and outstanding leader in the American Legion," said Stan Lowe, commander of Casper's American Legion Post No. 2. "We are very privileged to have him serve us."

Lowe said Casper's Legionnaires stand behind Bock's comments and said that Bock is a very powerful speaker.

The American Legion is the world's largest veterans organization with 2.7 million members and 14,000 American Legion posts. Two high-profile members of Casper's post include Vice President Dick Cheney and U.S. Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., Lowe said.