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SoMD American Legion Post 221 Flags for 1st Graders
Member Mike Barbour, December 04
Comrades,
Once again, we are providing our primary Americanism program to St. Mary’s County students. Have received feedback from most participating schools so am able to provide the details for your long-range calendar planning. The below schedule is for November & December 2023 (PPES is tentative & KCA is TBD). The way the requests came back we have two different days in each month. As always, ... (Full Story & Photos)
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Taking Time To Honor Our Veterans
District Six Historian Helen Smith, November 28
District Six Commander Murray Hall participated in various activities around the Southern Maryland District that had programs to honor our veterans on Veterans Day.
Please see the attached file for additional information.
Thank you Commander Hall for going over and above.
For God and Country... (Full Story & Photos)
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Passing of PDC Gail Murdock, Southern Maryland Post 221
Website Administrator Wes Simpkins, November 09
Obituary
Gail Earl Murdock, 84, of Mechanicsville, MD, passed away on November 5, 2023. Gail was born October 11, 1939, and was the son of the late Earl and Anna Murdock of Kilbourne, Illinois. Gail graduated from Havava High School in Illinois in 1957. After graduation, Gail enlisted in the United States Navy, where he served various tours of duty as an Aviation Storekeeper (AK). While stationed ... (Full Story & Photos)
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News Archives
We are The American Legion, Department of Maryland, (Southern Maryland Region) District Six also known as Dynamic 6! Our  District includes 15 Post's located in Calvert, Charles, Prince George's and St. Mary's Counties of Southern Maryland. District Six is a thriving District in the American Legion, Department of Maryland. We encourage you to browse our website, links to learn more particulars about our District and its many Legion Post's.
A small sample of history to our District making our locality unique being located in Southern Maryland offers hundreds of historic landmarks significant not only in  our State's founding, but America as well. St. Mary's City is known as the "Birthplace of Religious Freedom." It was the first city where an African American participated in the legislature, and the first place a woman petitioned for the right to vote.
Descendants of many of the local Native American tribes still flourish in the area as well. Amish communities in Charlotte Hall and Mechanicsville, (Charles-St Mary's Counties) Maryland are home to the largest Amish population in Maryland. The community is well known for its agriculture and its large farmers' market/flea market.
Not as once common as years, generations gone past, however there are still numerous people from Southern Maryland, which makes us unique in the lower parts of Calvert, Charles and more so St Mary’s Counties, Merlin who still speak in a Merlin native tongue, a regional accent many would say? They speak with a dialect which is similar to waterman who oyster, crab, fish similar to those from the Eastern Shore of Maryland, Smith Island, Chesapeake Bay, etc. dialect.
Maryland being one of the original 13 Colonies, established in 1632 was the 7th State admitted to the Union on 28 April 1788.. Southern Maryland is celebrated as having some of the best boating, hunting, fishing, seafood, barbeque, crops,  wine, etc. that is grown, caught and produced right in our District. Southern Maryland is also famous for its "Stuffed Ham," individual to our region, we have the largest Blue Heron Rookery on the East Coast, Battle Creek Cypress Swamp, a 100-acre ecological sanctuary including  the northernmost naturally occurring stand of bald cypress trees in America.
During the War of 1812 Southern Maryland, the area of District Six more specifically saw numerous Naval battles in 1813-1814 known as the "Chesapeake Campaign" including the Patuxent River where the British pushed up the Patuxent River burning homes, farms, looting along the way defeated Continental Commodore Joshua Barney. His Flotilla engaged the Royal Navy in several inconclusive battles before Barney was forced to scuttle the vessels themselves on August 22, 1814 near Upper Marlboro. The men of the Flotilla then served onshore in the Battle of Bladensburg, the defense of Washington, DC and Baltimore. It is from here where the British marched through Prince George's County and burned the White House and misc. buildings in Washington, DC.
 President James Madison's wife , Dolly Madison is famous for saving a painted portrait of George Washington from being burned and hangs there now preserving an important part of our country's heritage.
In Clinton, Prince George's County (right down the road from Clinton Post 259) we  have the Mary Surratt House whose son John Surratt, Jr. conspired with John Wilkes Booth in the assasination of President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865. Mary Surratt hosted and possibly attended meetings related to the conspiracy convened there by John Wilkes Booth, her son John Surratt and was the first woman executed by the US Federal Government
Southern Maryland is distinct as we are clustered amongst the many waterways; rivers, creeks, steams that feed off the Chesapeake Bay, watershed. These waterways have been sources of food, employment, transportation and recreation for many centuries, which includes parts of six states (Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York) and Washington, D.C.. The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in United States and the third largest in the world.
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- DISTRICT SIX COUNTY MAPS -
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Calvert County Zip Code Map
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Charles County Zip Code Map
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Prince Georges County Zip Code Map
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St Mary's County Zip Code Map
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Our Mission is to better serve the Post's located within The American Legion, Department of Maryland, Southern Maryland Region District Six, to the attendance of the communities, punctuated by high-visibility events fostering a strong national security by taking  care of our veterans and their families. Also important to us is mentoring the youth of our communities, schools, our State, Country, "promoting patriotism, honor, loyalty" and to improve outcomes for children, young people and families of our veterans. We strive to empower our Legionnaires’ with a sense of obligation to their community, state and nation thereby galvanizing an honest advocacy for veterans in Washington. The Americanegion, District Six positions itself not behind politics, but the issues and people that institute progress by focusing on veterans rights and their quality of life.
We may have taken off the uniform, but that doesn't mean we stop serving. We empower veterans everywhere to continue their service and inspire their communities along with veteran  talent, skills, employment for veterans, assist our unfortunate brothers and sisters and preparedness to generate visible impact. Join us in serving again- renew your membership or join a Post in your community! Real heroes don't wear capes, they wear dogtags.............
 John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 
1 John 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought
to lay down our lives for the brethren.
Matthew 25:35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
The American Legion Preamble
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One of our main objectives for this site is to not only compliment our Department's site, but to improve our message, afford access to our particular District, our individual Posts, it's officers and more important to all of our Legionnaires'; men and women who make up Southern Maryland District Six. We need to be more socially synergistic, visible and it is our intent for this site to be utilized in addition as a working tool for our many District - Post officers, members seeking information closer to the American Legion Post they are a member of
Our goals for District Six are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely.
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We need to better assist with the improvement of our Programs at the Post level. We believe leadership of our programs has the biggest impact on membership. We want our communities to know who we are and what we do.
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Our goals for this year are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. Keep an eye out for District Six this year. Our three significant goals include:
- Assist with improving our programs at the Post level. We believe the leadership of our programs has the most significant impact on membership. We want the community to know who we are and what we do!
- Reach our membership goal by April 2022. We will show them “why their membership matters” and why retention matters every year.
- Finally, bring the American Legion into the public eye. If they don’t know us, we are strangers. We represent what is good in this country and even more so in our community. Dynamic District Six has the southern part of the state covered!
We pray that somewhere in your home, there is an American flag on display. When we recite our Preamble, we understand the core values that go along with it. Our pillars serve as the road map to accomplishing our goals. We must turn the corner and measure  performance on the cornerstones of our American Legion. We will dive deeper into each pillar to ensure our objectives have been reached.
It should be noted that if we have 20% of our members doing 80% of the work, there is a problem, but I would argue these are only symptoms, wouldn't you agree? Your Post has been asked to execute a few critical programs each year. Can you imagine what the impact would be if we executed our programs? We must train our Committee Leaders on leading, communicating and having a vision toward measurable goals. The members will come if we do things in the community (because excellent programs drive us). Effective leadership influences the next set of Post Officers as well.
We must turn the corner and measure performance on the pillars of the American Legion. We aspire to dive deeper into each pillar to ensure objectives have been reached.
Southern Maryland Vietnam War Veteran 50th Anniversay Salute
29 April 2022 Stallings-Williams Post 206
 The Four Pillars of The American Legion
- Pillar I: Veterans and Rehabilitation
- Pillar II: National Security
Public Safety Award
- Pillar III: Americanism
- Pillar IIII: Children and Youth
Renew your American Legion membership online
Join the American Legion
Find a Post near you
- We are proud of our Southern Maryland culture- "Suthern Merlinder's" -
Bladensburg, Maryland Peace Cross
The American Legion commissioned the cross to commemorate the 49 servicemen that died overseas in World War I. For nearly 100 years, this memorial has stood erected in Prince George's County at a busy intersection for those who died from Prince George's County during World War I. The base of the cross displays the words "valor," "endurance," "courage," and "devotion" as well as a bronze tablet listing the names of those lost in combat.
Claiming to be offended by the cross, however, the American Humanist Association took legal action to remove the memorial, which  was originally built on private property with private funds. On June 20, 2019, in the case of American Legion v. American Humanist Association, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in favor 7-2 of keeping the Peace Cross on public land, by the reason that it does not violate the Establishment Clause of the US Constitution.
We humbly thank those who sacrificed their time and labor for the cause of saving our Bladensburg Peace Cross honoring those who unselfishly gave the ultimate sacrifice. The American Legion stands proud and will never be deterred by those who fight against what we were founded on and still faithfully stand by. As custodians we look forward to passing the torch onto future generations- not just Legionnaires', but all Americans.
Restoration ahead for Bladensburg Peace Cross
- FOR GOD AND COUNTRY -
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