Veteran Groups Try to Recapture Glory

With a swinging rendition of “Chattanooga Choo-Choo” playing on the jukebox, Al Syverson is explaining the sharp decline in membership of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4499 in this rural town with its long tradition of military service.

“The list just keeps getting longer,” said Syverson, pointing to a plaque--”Gone but not forgotten: our departed comrades”--that hangs in a place of honor next to the bar and the crocheted American flag.

“It’s sad,” he said. “They keep leaving us, and we just can’t seem to find guys to replace them.”

It is not a problem unique to the VFW post here. The VFW, American Legion and other veterans’ groups are facing a crisis of membership as the World War II generation passes from the scene.

The VFW commander in chief this month warned that, unless the group makes dramatic changes in the next five years to attract younger veterans, it may lose much of its post-World War II social significance and political clout.

“VFW stands at a crucial crossroads,” wrote John F. Gwizdak, a Vietnam veteran and recipient of a Purple Heart and Bronze Star, in the August edition of VFW Magazine.

Membership problems will be a major topic of discussion this week when 15,000 VFW members meet in Milwaukee for the Kansas City-based organization’s annual convention. President Bush will address the group Monday.

“Membership is the big thing with the VFW because it’s the only tool we have to fight for our benefits and for those of the young men and women on active duty today,” said J. Douglas Morris, whose VFW post in Miami Beach has dropped by two-thirds in recent years.

After hitting a membership high of 2.2 million in the 1990s, thanks to a burst of interest from Persian Gulf War veterans, the VFW ranks have dropped to 1.9 million.

Even that number is misleading.

A million VFW members are World War II veterans and an additional 400,000 are Korean War veterans. Thus, the recent decline in membership could be but the precursor to an even sharper drop.

For much of the 20th century, groups such as the VFW, American Legion and Disabled American Veterans were political powerhouses, pushing Congress into approving the GI Bill and establishing the Department of Veterans Affairs.

While it is still politically smart for a member of Congress to answer his or her door when the VFW or American Legion comes knocking, there are indications the organizations’ political clout and access are slipping amid a proliferation of special interest groups.

The VFW was dropped last year by Fortune magazine in its highly regarded rating of the top 25 lobbying groups.

Gwizdak said that the organization may need to shift its lobbying focus away from the traditional issues of benefits and VA eligibility rules to capture the attention of the media and younger veterans.

“If that means tackling controversial issues, then so be it,” he said. “VA medical care and disability compensation may be essential to some veterans but certainly not to the majority.”

The VFW and American Legion both have sought in recent years to reach out to younger veterans and active-duty personnel, briefing them on the advantages of membership, including insurance plans and assistance in seeking VA benefits.

The VFW even formed a post in a Boston homeless shelter to help veterans there.

“We can read the handwriting on the wall,” said VFW national spokesman Jerry Newberry. “We have to change with the times.”

The American Legion had a membership of more than 3 million as recently as 1995; it is now at only slightly above 2.8 million.

Like the VFW, it fights a stereotype that it is an organization catering primarily to the World War II generation.

To counter that view, the American Legion sponsored a team in June’s Armed Forces Eco-Challenge, a grueling 156-mile wilderness course in Alaska.

“We thought it was a good chance to show active-duty troops that the American Legion is alive, kicking and working for them,” said Brian Naranjo, a spokesman at American Legion headquarters in Indianapolis.

Legion members also are helping military recruiters.

The VFW and American Legion have increased their youth and scholarship programs and, in some instances, invited community groups to share their facilities. VFW officials have visited front-line troops in Kosovo and Bosnia.

But membership efforts by the VFW are made more difficult by its congressional charter, which limits membership to those who have served in a “theater of conflict.”

Bush, for example, would not qualify for VFW membership because his Vietnam-era service in the Texas Air National Guard as a jet pilot was stateside.

To get around this regulation, some VFW units, including Manistee, are starting auxiliary units called “friends of the VFW.” Membership as a “friend,” subject to approval by post members, is open to men and women who did not serve in a theater of conflict or, in some cases, did not serve at all.

The “friends” approach has yet to be sanctioned by the national headquarters. There is concern by some officials that it could dilute the organization’s elan as a group exclusively for men and women who have gone in harm’s way in service to their country.

Post 4499 members have no such worries. Membership has dropped from the mid-600s to less than 500.

“We think the ‘friends’ will be a great help and probably also bring in some younger veterans who would qualify as full members but haven’t applied because their buddies weren’t eligible,” said Bill Shales, a Vietnam veteran and Manistee City Council member.

Located on the shore of Lake Michigan, 207 miles and a world away from Detroit, Manistee (population 6,500) has a tradition of valorous military service dating to the early 19th century.

When its population was barely 1,000, about 100 men from Manistee volunteered to fight in the Civil War. Two received the Medal of Honor for bravery at the Battle of Red River.

Manistee soldiers stormed the garrison at Santiago, Cuba, during the Spanish-American War and fought in France, Germany and Russia during World War I. Many were immigrants eager to prove their patriotism and to speed their applications for citizenship, said Manistee historian Steve Harold.

In 1919, the local newspaper ran a picture of 32 Manistee men who served in the 125th Infantry, 32nd Division. The caption said that “no men anywhere gave a better account of themselves in action than did those from this county in this and other divisions.”

VFW Post 4499, formed in October 1945 with 248 members, is dedicated to the memory of Peter Walsh, one of two Manistee men killed on D-Day. After World War II, 17 trees were planted along Manistee River, one for each of the local men killed.

Along with other community service projects, VFW members place flags on the graves of veterans buried in Manistee cemeteries.

Stories about Manistee residents on active duty are common in the Manistee News-Advocate. A front-page story this month told of an Air Force sergeant being commended; the story noted that her father served in the Army and her grandparents in the British military.

VFW members say more members would help increase bar receipts, boost attendance at the Friday night fish-fry dinners and provide personnel for “work parties” to maintain the post facility on the edge of the Manistee National Forest.

“We’ve got four guys on the maintenance committee and they’re all in their mid-70s,” Shales said. “They’re running out of gas.”