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American Legion, VFW reach out to younger vets
Micki Steele / The Detroit News
Harper Woods=97 Ray Droste scans the death notices in the = newspaper=20 every day, checking to see if anyone from his American Legion post is = listed.=20
For the commander of Grosse Pointe Post 303, it's a sad but vital = task: In=20 the past three years, the post has lost almost 20 members. =
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Post 303 has kept its ranks above 100, but only by absorbing members = from=20 other area posts that have closed. A meeting last week illustrated the = post's=20 dilemma: The 17 men who showed up at the post's rented space on Harper = Avenue=20 were all over 70, including Droste, 71.
"We're getting older, and we're not able to get the younger members," = he=20 said. "You're not going to have a 35-year-old walk in here and see a = field of=20 gray and want to join."
Across Michigan and the rest of the country, veterans organizations = face=20 declining rolls as the World War II and Korean War generations pass on. = The=20 youngest Korean War vets are in their mid-70s, and even many Vietnam War = vets=20 are past 60.
From a peak of nearly 95,000 Michigan members in 1990, the American = Legion is=20 down to about 80,000 members. Nationally, the ranks are down from 3 = million 20=20 years ago to 2.4 million today.
Statewide membership in the Vietnam Veterans of America has held = steady at=20 4,000 for the past 10 years after peaking at 7,000 in 1990, said Keith = King,=20 national public affairs chairman.
Veterans group leaders say their mission is simple: change or die. To = survive=20 and remain relevant in the 21st century, such groups need to reinvent = themselves=20 to serve veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and = 1990s=20 conflicts such as the Persian Gulf war.
"They're not a real 'joining' generation," said Pat Lafferty, the = legion's=20 chief administrative officer in Michigan. "If they don't join, we'll go = away."=20
Traditionally, veterans groups have performed two main functions: = helping=20 ex-servicemen with government benefits and services, and bringing vets = together=20 for social events and patriotic observances.
Today's vets have different needs, said Dick Chatman, co-chairman of = the=20 Metro Detroit Veterans Coalition.
"They're not interested in sitting in a Legion hall and telling war = stories,"=20 he said.
Instead, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are more likely to keep in = touch with=20 friends from their units on Facebook. They're more likely to want a = wireless=20 hotspot than a watering hole.
Many of them are returning to jobs and families and are interested in = services such as child care.
Michael Reinhardt is typical of the new-generation vet. Reinhardt, = 24, of=20 Milford served in the Marine Corps in Iraq from October 2008 to May = 2009.
A remediation and restoration worker, he became a father a month ago = and=20 plans to marry his daughter's mother in July.
Reinhardt plays in a local VFW darts league with other vets in his = age group,=20 but is still weighing whether to join. "I never really understood before = what it=20 entailed to be a member," he said. "I thought being a member just gets = you=20 discounts at the bar."
And that's the real problem, officials of veterans' organizations = say. Most=20 veterans, young and old, are unaware of the services provided by these=20 transitional support groups.
Instead, they view them narrowly as social centers.
Droste, the Grosse Pointe post commander, says having family services = and=20 computer technology available would appeal to younger generations, but = few posts=20 in Metro Detroit are able to provide such amenities.
The Detroit district, for instance, has more than 20 posts, but just = three=20 have a permanent, chapter-owned facility. The rest rent space.
Another challenge is the way young veterans view technology. They're = used to=20 online services like Facebook and Skype that require no physical = interaction or=20 physical meeting place.
They feel less disconnected from the soldiers they met during their=20 deployments, said Patrick Hannah, 47, founding president of the Wayne = State=20 University Student Veterans Organization. The group, which formed in = fall 2009,=20 has about 75 members, out of 375 veterans on campus, he said.
"They don't think of it as a resource," Hannah said. "They think of = it as a=20 way of life."
Jason Wagner, 29, vice president of the Wayne State student veterans' = group,=20 belongs to the VFW post in Shelby Township.
He has missed every monthly meeting since joining two years ago = because of=20 his class schedule, which includes night sessions.
But he's working to expose his schoolmates to the benefits, he said, = which=20 include "camaraderie with like-minded people" and help with filing = claims for=20 medical and financial assistance.
"You've lived a life almost in a bubble," Wagner said of the military = experience. "There is so much structure and you come out to a chaotic = world. You=20 need these kinds of places."
Lafferty, the state American Legion official, believes the need for=20 comradeship and support will eventually draw younger veterans. He says = Vietnam=20 veterans were initially slow to join, in part because of generational = clashes=20 with more conservative World War II and Korean veterans.
John Raughter, national spokesman for the American Legion in = Indianapolis,=20 said Vietnam-era veterans are the largest contingent in the group, = comprising 1=20 million of its 2.4 million members.
"We've bottomed out and we'll see an upturn," Lafferty said. "And = it'll be a=20 lot better mix than with the WWII and Vietnam vets. I don't think the = Iraq,=20 Afghanistan and Vietnam vets are that far apart in their thinking."
Keith King, a member of Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 9 in = Detroit,=20 said the Veterans of Modern Warfare was launched 15 years ago to aid = Persian=20 Gulf-era veterans. The goal was to spare them the poor treatment endured = by many=20 Vietnam vets, who faced a backlash after fighting in an unpopular war. =
"Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another," King = said.=20
The American Legion held a Detroit membership drive in October, the = second in=20 five years. The majority of those at the event requested help filing = claims with=20 the Veterans Administration, but few became members.
Eugene Ignasiak, 87, a retired schoolteacher who serves as the flag = bearer=20 during Post 303 meetings, said young Metro Detroit veterans give him the = same=20 response when he invites them to join.
"They say, 'I'll think about it,'" Ignasiak said. "But it's good not = only for=20 our camaraderie =97 we help one another."
msteele@detnews.com
(13) 222-2620
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