Congress and the White House have agreed to expand the definition of war eras to include all who served since Dec. 7, 1941.

More than 1,600 members of the U.S. Armed Forces were killed or wounded in periods not designated as war eras since the end of World War II.

The newly signed Let Everyone Get Involved in opportunities for National Service act of 2019, or LEGION Act, honors those veterans, their spouses and descendants, extending membership eligibility in the American Legion family to hundreds of thousands who had previously been excluded.

The LEGION Act offers American Legion membership eligibility to any U.S. military veteran who served at least one day of active military duty since Dec. 7, 1941, and was honorably discharged or is serving now.

The act also affects membership in the American Legion Auxiliary and Sons of the American Legion, expanding eligibility for those groups as well.