American Legion National Vice Commander Eugene Schumacher of Aberdeen, S.D., made a stop in El Dorado Monday afternoon at Post 81.
Schumacher is an Air Force veteran of the Vietnam era. He is a member and past commander of Aberdeen Post 24 and over his 43 years of being a Legionnaire has held numerous leadership positions at the post, state and national levels.
On his tour of 20 Legion posts in Kansas, he was talking with member about the importance of membership and the fundamentals of the Legion.
He offered a challenge to post commanders to continue to push for more membership.
Kansas is currently ranked ninth for membership nation wide.
"Membership is the backbone of our organization," Schumacher said.
He said while they are losing tremendous amounts of members who are World War II and Korean War veterans, there are a large number of veterans coming home now who are eligible to join.
He went on to talk about the four pillars on which the organization is based.
Those include veterans affairs and rehabilitation, children and youth, Americanism and a strong national defense.
In regards to the flag, he talked a little about the flag amendment being proposed to stop people from desecrating the flag.
"It's all of our individual jobs to e-mail our congress people and senators and let them know where you stand," he said, encouraging everyone to show their support of veterans' program.
He also talked about them importance of their family, including the American Legion, American Legion Auxiliary, Sons of the American Legion and American Legion Riders.
Following his presentation, coffee and cookies were served and members had a chance to talk further with Schumacher before he headed on to Pratt.
