VFW reaches out to younger veterans

It’s an enduring image: a bunch of old guys sitting around a bar, swilling beer and remembering long-ago battles. That may have been your dad’s VFW, say officials of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

But that notion, they say, is as dated as horse-drawn cannons. Today, VFW posts are making a concerted effort to reach out to younger veterans, stressing membership benefits that transcend cheap beer.

With Veterans Day this Thursday, such recruiting attempts underscore a national effort to keep veterans organizations relevant.

In Lawrenceville, a post adopted a National Guard unit that was about to deploy to Iraq and offered words of encouragement and a steak dinner to the troops in the hours before they headed overseas.

In Cumming, a VFW executive is raising money to build an outreach center that would help veterans find jobs and adjust to civilian life.

In Marietta, a post commander is urging her — yes, her — old-line members to be mentors to the new guys, to show them what it means to be in the VFW.

New members have to have a reason to join, said Jerry Newberry, communications director for the VFW’s national headquarters in Kansas City, Mo. “There are still a lot of people we haven’t touched, and we’d like to touch them.”

‘Getting older’

The VFW, an effective lobbying organization for millions of veterans, traces its roots to two groups formed in 1899 by Spanish-American War veterans. They merged in 1913 and adopted the name Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States.

The group boasts 7,000 posts worldwide. In 1992, it had 2.16 million members, most World War II veterans. Today, it has 1.5 million. Of that number, only 17 percent — 220,000 — are veterans of post-Vietnam war conflicts.

Georgia is home to 22,450 VFW members and 116 posts. The organization’s local headquarters is in Macon.

The state has an estimated 773,000 veterans. Not all are eligible for VFW membership, noted state VFW Adjutant Wayne Hagan. But the organization, he said, is hardly reaching its potential membership.

“We wish we knew what the key was to recruiting,” he said. “Quite frankly, we are getting older.”

Vietnam veteran Joe LaBranche believes posts need to market themselves to younger veterans. LaBranche, vice commander of Post 4193 in Cumming, has made recruiting them a priority.

LaBranche wants the Cumming post to house a benefits center where veterans go online to look for jobs, attend skills workshops and learn about changes in veterans’ benefits.

“Hopefully, the [younger] guys see this and say, ‘Hey, I want to be a part of that,’” said LaBranche, a retired fraud investigator. “We’re trying to bring them [new members] in and educate them as to their benefits.”

For Josh Lindsey, 25, the chance to hang out with people who have experienced the hardships and horrors of war is sufficient. An Army veteran, he joined the Cumming post in June — a decision based, in part, on gratitude. Post members and others built Lindsey a house to accommodate his wheelchair. Badly wounded in Iraq in 2005, Lindsey is a paraplegic.

Returning home could have been more traumatic without the help of the veterans who let him into their post and lives, said Lindsey. At a VFW post, a wheelchair needs no explanation.

“It’s camaraderie,” he said. “It’s the chance to be with people who have been in the same situations.”

He also understands that new members one day will be old members, and they’ll be called on to help other wounded warriors.

“I started talking to the older guys, and [realized] most of them are dying off,” the Cumming resident said. “They need new blood to keep the VFW going.”

Joel Willis knows that, too. Willis, 53, heads Georgia VFW District 3, comprising 17 posts in Dekalb, Fulton, Gwinnett and Rockdale counties and part of Cobb. It’s home to more than 3,500 members.

He recently formed Veterans First, a group of five wounded veterans who plan to visit schools and appear in holiday parades and festivals, possibly connecting with potential members.

“We’re going to be putting a younger face out there, a face that shows what we’re doing now,” said Willis, an employee of the state Department of Veterans Service and a 23-year Army veteran. “Not what we did in the past.”

‘Place to go’

Joshua Musser turned 19 while enduring the Marine Corps’ famed boot camp at Parris Island, S.C. By the time he was 20, the Lawrenceville resident was fighting in the streets of Fallujah.

An artillery specialist, Musser lost hearing in his left ear from the big guns’ blasts during that 2004 battle, considered the bloodiest of the Iraq War. He sustained a serious head injury fleeing a missile. And he saw things that haunt him still: body parts lying on the ground, headless children. Musser returned with post-traumatic stress syndrome, or PTSD.

“When I got home, I was really screwed up,” unable to sleep and stricken with panic attacks, said Musser. “I could have just stayed in my room and never gone out.”

Compounding his problems: Musser was having trouble getting the care he needed from the Veterans Administration. He contacted the office of his congressman, Rep. John Linder, asking for help. A Linder staffer who promised to direct him to treatment also suggested he contact the VFW.

On a Saturday afternoon five years ago, Musser walked into Post 5255 in Lawrenceville, unsure of what to expect. “I thought it would be a bingo hall,” he said.

Instead, said Musser, it was his salvation.

Men with lined faces looked up. Veterans from World War II, Korea and Vietnam, the men listened to the young one recount his war – with the enemy, with his memories. As he talked, Musser relaxed. His hosts may have been older, he knew, but they shared a bond.

“It was the most incredible moment of my life,” said Musser, who credits the post with helping him keep PTSD in check. “It made me realize I had a place to go. I knew this would be a healthy place for me.”

Mike Finch, one of the guys who greeted Musser that Saturday afternoon, laughed at the memory.

“He came in the door, frightened and worried and young and dumb,” said Finch. “An hour later, he was doing great.”

Like Musser, Finch served in the Marines. He was in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969, during the Tet Offensive.

As he and others talked about their experiences, said Finch, the young man understood. He was among people who cared.

“When you go to war, it’s indescribable,” said Finch, 63. “Only someone who has been there can understand.”

Musser joined a post that makes recruiting younger members a priority. The Lawrenceville organization has about 500 members, nearly half of them post-Vietnam War veterans.

At the Gwinnett County Fair this year, the post had a recruiting booth. It routinely sends members to Gwinnett Braves games to look for potential members, too.

It adopted a Lawrenceville National Guard unit that deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, twice honoring the troops with a parade and a dinner before they headed overseas.

“We realize what these younger guys are going through,” said Vietnam veteran John Veverka, 67, the post commander. “These guys did the same thing we did. To us, they’re like brothers.”

Adapting to survive

Or sisters. Carol Mellom, commander of Post 2681 in Marietta, believes her post needs to find younger members, regardless of gender. A former Air Force nurse, she wants the post to embrace mentoring — older members reaching out to the younger ones, explaining the history and role of the VFW. She has high hopes for this.

“It’s not a new concept,” said Mellom, 59, who joined eight years ago. “But some of our older members don’t like change.”

But change, say old-timers and newcomers, is inevitable if the VFW is to survive. That means emphasizing what the organization offers to those who have faced combat.

Terry Haynes, a Vietnam veteran and commander of Alpharetta Post 12002, understands what the organization has to sell. It’s not beer.

“We’re more interested in helping troops and their families,” said Haynes, 63. “It’s a lot better than sitting in a bar.”

Veterans in Georgia

Total: 773,858

Peacetime veterans: 199,301

Wartime veterans: 574,557*

World War II: 36,647

Korean War: 49,018

Vietnam: 232,911

Gulf war: 226,264**

Veterans in the metro area

Clayton: 24,682

Cobb: 58,829

DeKalb: 45,374

Fayette: 14,270

Forsyth: 11,142