Harry W. Colmery (December 11, 1890 – August 23, 1979) was an American attorney who served as the National Commander of

The American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is made up of state, U.S. territory, and overseas departments, and these are in turn made up of l ...

from 1936 to 1937. Considered the principal architect of the

G.I. Bill The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...

, he was the first past national commander to earn the Legion's Distinguished Service Medal in 1975.

Early life and education

Born in

North Braddock, Pennsylvania North Braddock is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. North Braddock was organized from a part of Braddock Township in 1897. The borough prides itself in being the "Birth Place of Steel" as the home of Andrew Carnegie's ...

to Walter and Flora Colmery, Harry Walter Colmery was one of four children. He graduated from Oberlin College in 1913, from law school at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

in 1916, and was admitted to the Utah bar in 1917.

World War I

Colmery served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

Air Service during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

as an instructor and pursuit pilot. He was honorably discharged on April 24, 1919.

Personal life

Colmery married his college sweetheart, Minerva Harriet Hiserodt, on December 20, 1919. They had three children: Mary, Harry W., Jr., and Sarah Elizabeth.

Legacy

The Colmery-O'Neil Veterans Administration Hospital in

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central U ...

, is named in honor of him.

Military awards

References

External links

*
Harry W. Colmery
at

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The name comes from the website's inclusion of burial locations o ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Colmery, Harry W. 1890 births 1979 deaths People from North Braddock, Pennsylvania Kansas Republicans Kansas lawyers 20th-century American lawyers Oberlin College alumni University of Pittsburgh School of Law alumni National Commanders of the American Legion United States Army Air Service pilots of World War I United States Army officers Burials in Kansas Military personnel from Pennsylvania