VFWs struggle to reach young veterans

VFW Day Post 7591, on Cottage Road in Madison, is open to the public for drinks and food. It also hosts regular events including Bingo, Euchre and Friday fish fries. (VFW Day Post 7591 Madison, WI Public Facebook Group)

It isn’t uncommon to see a commemorative ceremony at a Veterans of Foreign Wars post around Wisconsin, but the honorees aren’t always those who served on the battlefield. At Stoughton VFW Post 328, those who are honored for their service are school teachers. 

“We really enjoy doing teacher commemoration for the work they do teaching their students about us,” Commander Patrick Nowlin of Post 328 said. “It’s just one of the many things we like to do for the community and show how much we really care.”

Nowlin has been the Stoughton commander for the past seven years and joined the VFW after ending his tour in Vietnam. While he has found the VFW to be a central part of his life, many other Wisconsin veterans don’t.

Over the past decade, veteran involvement in programs like the VFW has been on a sharp decline. While the VFW and other related organizations have made efforts to open membership to those who previously didn’t qualify, membership continues to stay stagnant, leaving members to question what they are doing wrong.

“Last August, the VFW opened up the Lady’s Auxiliary to allow men in order to boost membership,” Chaplain Ann Wirth of the Wisconsin VFW Auxiliary said. “We thought our membership would start to go up but it hasn’t and I just don’t know why.”

The VFW Lady’s Auxiliary was formed for female members of veterans’ families to join and receive benefits to make the organization more family-friendly. The VFW voted to open the Auxiliary by dropping the “Lady’s” from the title and allowing men to join.

“It was a natural move for us because we have veterans who need help for their husbands,” Wirth said. She said the issue could be the number of veterans who have fought overseas in a war dropping over the years. The Auxiliary has the same restrictions as the VFW because it is only open to immediate family members of VFW veterans.

According to their website, VFW membership is restricted to those veterans who have served during wartime overseas, served for at least 60 days during the Korean War or have received “hostile fire or imminent danger pay.”

“I think the biggest problem is the restriction on who can be members,” Nowlin said. “In order to join you had to fight overseas and unless you fought in Vietnam, the next guys eligible would be Desert Storm. That’s a 15-year gap.”

Organizations similar to the VFW, like the American Legion, have fewer restrictions on membership. The American Legion requires members to have served during wartime without going overseas but is suffering the same problem of membership decline.

“I think people are thinking too much about the classic stereotypes,” said Joe Ellis, quartermaster at Madison Day Post 7591. “We have our traditions the young guys don’t like and people still think we are a place for the old guys to drink and smoke during the day." 

Ellis said the rituals and meetings are things the older veterans still use that younger veterans feel don’t include them. He said the meetings are always long and drawn out and younger veterans with families and busy schedules don’t have time to be as active.

“As I got older, I’ve become more involved at my post,” Ellis said. “Guys with families who work and look out for their loved ones can only commit an hour here or an hour there to our postand they definitely don’t want to do it sitting in meetings.”

Ellis also said there is a cycle that brings in young guys after a period of time. They come back not knowing what they want to do and the VFW is the last thing on their minds. Eventually, older members pass away and younger members with more time take their place.

The membership decline hasn’t stopped the posts from trying to attract members and be involved in the community.

Nowlin and Post 328 commemorate a local area teacher once a month for the work they do in education. Education is important to the VFW and they hope their visibility in the community will encourage veterans to start joining again. 

“I’ve made sure our post is doing everything to continue our mission of service,” Nowlin said. “When veterans and their families come to us looking for help to get their benefits they are owed or when someone is looking for a job, I want to do everything I can to help. I just want people toknow we are here.”