American Legion official resigns over censored Memorial Day speech

A top official of an American Legion post in Ohio resigned after he and a colleague reportedly censored a Memorial Day speech that mentioned how Black people spearheaded the earliest commemoration of the holiday on record.

Jim Garrison, a post officer of the Hudson Lee-Bishop American Legion, resigned from his position upon demand from officials, according to a Friday statement from the American Legion Department of Ohio.

The chapter’s charter has also been suspended, pending permanent closure.

Garrison, along with Cindy Suchan, chair of the Memorial Day parade committee and president of the Hudson American Legion Auxiliary, reportedly censored retired Army Lt. Col. Barnard Kemter when he delivered a speech at a Memorial Day event.

The Washington Post reported that Kemter’s microphone cut out when he began discussing how Black people commemorated Union soldiers who died as prisoners of war by giving them a proper burial, decorating their graves with flowers and arranging a parade to recognize them.

Video of the event, according to the Post, shows Kemter, who believed it was a glitch, asking for technical assistance.

After the event, however, the audio engineer told Kemter that the event organizers had adjusted the volume, the Post reported.

According to The American Legion Department of Ohio, Suchan received a copy of Kemter’s speech prior to the event, and asked him to remove the part that discussed a historical event in 1865 “in which several newly freed Black slaves were among the first to commemorate Memorial Day after the Civil War.”

Kemter, however, ultimately decided to keep that part in his speech.

The American Legion Department of Ohio said the censoring of the speech was “pre-meditated and planned,” and denounced the action.

“The American Legion Department of Ohio does not hold space for members, veterans, or families of veterans who believe that censoring black history is acceptable behavior,” it wrote in a statement.

The department said it was “deeply saddened” by the incident, and vowed to “continue to educate the value of diversity.”

“We are deeply saddened by this and stand in unity and solidarity with the black community and all peoples of race, color, religion, sex, and gender, so that those who are exclusive of such persons will know that this behavior is not acceptable in The American Legion, in our homes, our hearts, our communities, in private, public, or anywhere,” it wrote.