American Legion Post 43 played a significant role in the storied past of golden age Hollywood. World War I veterans employed in the motion picture business chartered the post in 1919 to assist their fellow veterans debilitated by the Great War while providing service to the Los Angeles community, the state of California, and the nation. Hollywood luminaries—veterans and nonveterans alike—including Cecil B. DeMille, Adolphe Menjou, Walter Long, and Mary Pickford were instrumental in supporting the embryonic post organization that initially met in a small church on the corner of Hollywood & Vine.

Requiring a consistent revenue stream to fund sustained operations, Post 43 purchased land at 1628 El Centro Avenue and built the Hollywood Legion Boxing Stadium. The open-air stadium was initially constructed in 1919 and was converted into a fully enclosed 8,000-seat arena in 1921. The boxing and wrestling matches entertained the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Rudolph Valentino along with a following generation of Tinseltown luminaries before closing in 1959.

The Legion Stadium proceeds funded the construction of the 33,000 square foot Egyptian Revival/Moroccan/ Art Deco Post 43 Memorial Clubhouse (located at 2035 N. Highland Avenue just south of the Hollywood Bowl) in 1929. Its members have eighteen stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, including: Clark Gable, Gene Autry, Mickey Rooney, Red Buttons, Ronald Reagan, Charlton Heston, Stan Lee among others. The clubhouse building was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 1987.

Post 43 is presently thriving with more than 1,400 current members and is one of the fastest-growing in the American Legion. The Highland Ave. clubhouse continues to be owned and operated by veterans and the former Legion stadium building on El Centro and Hollywood Boulevard (currently leased to L.A. Fitness) still belongs to Post 43. A current generation of vets assumed the helm on a multi-million-dollar modernization of the clubhouse to ensure the legacy of Post 43 and its members well into the future.

Members of the Hollywood American Legion are involved every day in helping veterans with accessing VA benefits and care, remedying financial hardship, supporting local ROTC programs, and raising money for college scholarships, all while enjoying great friendships, raising families, and expanding their social and professional networks.