Philip B Onderdonk Jr

The judge advocate advises national officers and the National Executive Committee on legal matters, including the interpretation of the national constitution and by-laws. Philip B. Onderdonk Jr. was appointed national judge advocate of The American Legion by then-National Commander Keith A. Kreul in 1983. Onderdonk, a member of American Legion Post 183 in Parkville, Md., served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. He earned the Bronze Star as a contracting officer. A 1965 graduate of Johns Hopkins University, Onderdonk earned his law degree, with honors, from the University of Maryland Law School in 1969. He is a member of the Maryland Bar Association, the Indiana Bar Association, the Washington, D.C. bar association and the Pennsylvania Bar Association. He has been admitted to practice before the bar in all courts of Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., Indiana and Maryland. He is also admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Circuit Court for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 7th, 9th, D.C. and federal circuits. Prior to his appointment as national judge advocate, Onderdonk was marketing and staff attorney for Crown Central Petroleum Corp. of Baltimore. His previous experience includes staff attorney for Mobil Oil Corp. in Philadelphia and Valley Forge, Pa., and law clerk for U.S. District Judge J. William Ditter Jr. of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Onderdonk and his wife, Ann, live in Carmel, Ind. They have two children.