American Legion Post 20 to hear about German U-boat attacks during World War I on March 14

Maritime archaeologist and diver Tane Casserley will be the guest speaker at an American Legion Post 20 meeting at noon Thursday, March 14, in the McClendon Room.

The meeting is open to all National Press Club members.

Casserley will discuss World War I German U-Boat attacks on U.S. Navy and American shipping vessels off the Atlantic Coast. A research coordinator with the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Newport News, Virginia, he will describe fierce U.S. Navy and Coast Guard engagements with the German submarines and NOAA's work to preserve wartime sunken ships off the East Coast.

Casserley has led archaeological expeditions in the mid-Atlantic, Florida Keys, Great Lakes, and off the coasts of California, Alaska and Hawaii. He is a maritime archaeology graduate of the University of Hawaii and has a masters degree in maritime studies from East Carolina University.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Post 20 and the American Legion. The post was founded in November 2019 at the suggestion of World War I Gen.John "Black Jack" Pershing. Pershing was serving in Washington following the war and was an associate member of the Club. He was instrumental in founding the American Legion in 1919.