On Dec. 13, 2022, American Legion National Commander Vincent J. “Jim” Troiola conducted a Meet & Greet/Town Hall session via ZOOM with American Legion posts in South Korea and the Philippines. Troiola was visiting Post OK28, Okinawa, Japan.
A few issues he discussed during the ZOOM meeting were the Be the One campaign to save one veteran and help a veteran in crisis; the Major Richard Star Act, which would allow any disabled veteran to receive both their full disability and retirement pay, regardless of how many years they served; the Afghan Adjustment Act to provide support for nationals of Afghanistan who supported the U.S. mission in Afghanistan; GI Bill increase benefits for education for members of the National Guard and reserves.
A major issue of the Legionnaires in Korea, Okinawa and the Philippines is the loss of the APO FPO (Military Postal Service) privileges; this will affect the veterans and widows, and these problems were expressed to the national commander. The American Legion will support the veterans in maintaining their MPS privileges. Steve Tharp, commander of Post 38, gave an open invitation to the next national commander to visit South Korea. Department of the Philippines Commander Mark Frease thanked Troiola for conducting the ZOOM meeting with Legionnaires under the Department of the Philippines.