and that home was again within reach, this thought of a veterans'
band, which had slumbered far back in the subconscious thoughts of all
of them, burst into objectivity. An association of some sort was
widely discussed not only by the men but by the officers as well. But
how could even the start of it be begun? Those who considered the
project most seriously were confronted with a difficulty which seemed
at first to be almost insurmountable: that was the difficulty of
assembling at one time and in one place a gathering which might at
least approximately represent the whole army, navy, marine corps, or
even the A.E.F.

This difficulty tended to narrow what is believed to have been the
wish of everyone when he first thought of the matter, that is the hope
that it would be another Grand Army of the Republic, another United
Confederate Veterans, but greater than either because representative
of a United Country. Talk started then about all sorts of imagined and
fancied veteran organizations. Some advocated an officers'
association. This was believed to be possible because officers had
more freedom and more financial ability to attend a convention. Others
thought the enlisted men should perfect organizations by regiments
first, then divisions, and finally form one great united body.

The present leaders in the movement have since said that they realized
that all of these schemes must come to naught because no organization
except one on the broadest possible lines could be effective. They
believed that all officers and men of the three branches of the
service and all enlisted women, whether they served at home or abroad,
should be eligible and urged to join one thoroughly democratic and
comprehensive organization. They knew that any organization leaving
out one or more elements composing the military service of the United