Allein Post 3 of the American Legion will observe the 100th birthday of the American Legion and its own centennial anniversary Saturday at the post, 1712 Monroe St.

“Allien Post 3 is one of the oldest active American Legion posts in Mississippi,” said Julia Baker, the post adjutant. “Because the American Legion’s birthday is Saturday, we will celebrate ours the same time. The Legion was charted in March and we were chartered in July. The celebration is open to the public.”

She said state American Legion Commander Pat Baughman will attend the centennial observance, which includes cake and punch and a program.

Baughman, Baker said, will help present certificates to members, and Melissa Ables will be recognized for her work in getting gift cards for Coast Guard families during the government shutdown.

Named for fallen brothers

Allein Post 3 was chartered on July 2, 1919.  It is named after the Allein brothers, Henry and William, who were killed days apart during World War I.

William Allein, 17, enlisted in the Army in November 1917 and was a private first class with a ground artillery crew of the 5th Field Artillery.

He was killed instantly Oct. 6, 1918, 11 days into the Meuse-Argonne battle at Exermont, France, by a bursting shell when his crew drew retaliatory gunfire from a machine-gun nest on the opposite slope.

Henry Allein was drafted into the service in April 1918 and became a pilot with the 28th Aero Squadron, 3rd Pursuit Group of the American Expeditionary Force.

He died Oct. 27, 1918, in a crash while attempting to make an emergency landing in his French Spad XIII at a U.S. airfield near Clermont after being wounded during a dogfight with a German plane. He was 21. The crash was 15 miles from where his brother fell. The Armistice was signed 15 days later on Nov. 11, 1918.

The brothers’ names are on the monument in the Rose Garden that was placed in 1923.

The American Legion was chartered by Congress in March 1919 as a patriotic veterans organization.

The organization focuses on service to veterans, service members and communities.

It is a nonprofit organization with more than 2 million members in more than 13,000 posts worldwide. The posts are organized into 55 departments, one each for the 50 states, along with the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, France, Mexico and the Philippines.

The organization is committed to mentoring youth and sponsorship of wholesome programs in communities, advocating patriotism and honor, promoting strong national security and continued devotion to service members and veterans.