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American Legion Wraps Up 100th National Convention

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The American Legion wrapped up its 100th National Convention on Sunday.

The American Legion held a parade at the Minneapolis Convention Center in the afternoon. It was moved inside because over concerns of rain.

Sen. John McCain was a member of the American Legion, and he spoke at its national convention many times.

McCain, who faced down his captors in a Vietnam prisoner of war camp with jut-jawed defiance and later turned his rebellious streak into a 35-year political career that took him to Congress and the Republican presidential nomination, died Saturday after battling brain cancer for more than a year. He was 81.

Members of the American Legion say he will be missed.

"I'll remember him as a guy who fought for his country," said Marty Grady, an American Legion member from Massachusetts. "Loyalty, I would say he has loyalty. I mean, we can all say he is an American hero.

The very first American Legion Convention was held in Minneapolis in 1919.

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