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Members of the Mendon VFW Post 4898 from left, Merlin Huff, Morris Ballman, L.D. Ballman, Vernon Yeomans, Sharon Buchner and Ted Talbot are upset their post is closing. (Photo by Jonathon Gruenke) |
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Posted on 01/29/2008 2:39:37 PM PST by Incorrigible
By JEFF BARR
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Members of the Mendon VFW Post 4898 from left, Merlin Huff, Morris Ballman, L.D. Ballman, Vernon Yeomans, Sharon Buchner and Ted Talbot are upset their post is closing. (Photo by Jonathon Gruenke) |
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MENDON, Mich. — Powder-blue paint peels from the surface of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4898. The brick-and-wood building sits next to a farmer's field gone barren for the winter and, like the adjacent acreage, it sits empty.
The Mendon post, located south of Kalamazoo, was ordered closed Nov. 24 — 62 years to the day after being founded by 60 World War II veterans. Dwindling membership, combined with confusion and spotty adherence to state VFW bylaws, resulted in its shutdown.
VFW officials at the state and national levels, along with former Post 4898 members, say the post is symbolic of a more widespread issue.
Since 1997, the number of VFW posts nationwide have decreased from 10,500 to 8,400. National membership stands at about 1.7 million — less than 10 percent of the approximately 20 million U.S. veterans eligible to join the VFW.
Mendon is one of three Michigan posts to close since November. Post 5003 in Bronson shut down in December and Post 393 in Detroit surrendered its charter earlier this month.
"It's not just Mendon," said Robert Weiss, Michigan's VFW Adjutant Quartermaster and a Vietnam veteran. "It's happening all over."
When Weiss was appointed state adjutant in 1997, there were 404 VFW posts in Michigan. Today, there are 340. In the past year, VFW membership in Michigan declined by almost 5,000.
The Mendon building was an old schoolhouse when it was built in 1871, and then sat vacant for years. It then was transformed into a medical-implement manufacturing facility, sat vacant again, then was given to the VFW in 1971.
"We felt bad about closing down the Mendon post, but there were so few members and they weren't turning in officer-election reports or attending district meetings to keep up on VFW affairs," Weiss said.
VFW membership is aging, and as we members pass on, they aren't being replaced by younger veterans, Weiss said.
"At a lot of places, it's just a few guys in their 80s," he said.
Thirty-nine members were on the books when Mendon's Post 4898 was padlocked, but only six or seven in their late 70s or early 80s took an active role. The vets helped organize community blood drives and they marched annually in local Memorial Day parades.
"The VFW represents tradition, sacrifice and patriotism," said Ted Talbot, 80, a U.S. Army veteran who joined Post 4898 in 1948 after returning home from World War II duty in Honshu, Japan. "I think the reason posts are closing, the reason there are fewer members, is because there is less of all three of those qualities in society today than there used to be.
"Everyone is so busy ... Being a veteran doesn't seem to be as important as it once was."
Former Post 4898 member Merlin Huff, 77, a Korean War veteran who lives in Mendon, was more blunt.
"People don't even want to stand up for the national anthem anymore," he said. "It's as if they don't even understand what the flag represents. It makes me sick."
The most public displays of VFW activity might be the parades and honor guards, but the organization's primary focus is to help veterans receive Veterans Administration disability benefits.
The VFW fights for compensation for Vietnam vets exposed to Agent Orange and for veterans diagnosed with Gulf War Syndrome. The group also has worked to improve VA medical centers, including better screening procedures for breast and lung cancer.
According to VFW statistics, the organization annually recoups more than $1 billion in VA benefits and compensation claims for veterans or their dependents.
VFW officials say the claims process can be exhausting and frustrating, and often takes years to complete. The VFW guides veterans through the process.
"Without advocacy from the VFW, a lot of veterans apply for benefits, are refused and then just drop it," Weiss said. "But with our help, we let them know what to expect and we stay with them for the long haul."
The most serious ramification of declining VFW membership, according to Weiss, is the danger of the group's bargaining power diminishing.
"If we are to remain a legitimate agency when it comes to fighting for veterans' benefits, we have to be viewed as an organization that represents a good number of veterans," he said. "There are Vietnam vets, there are Persian Gulf vets, but not in the numbers we need.
"We will exist in the future, but in order to remain viable, we're going to have to be leaner and meaner."
(Jeff Barr is a reporter for the Kalamazoo (Mich.) Gazette. He can be contacted at jbarr(at)kalamazoogazette.com.)
Not for commercial use. For educational and discussion purposes only.
Ping
Doesn’t your dh belong?
Poppy was lifetime member of the American Legion.
I don’t know if No-No belongs to either organization.
I got this article in my email this morning. So sad.
Yes, hubby joined as a lifetime member in 2003. Post 27. The VFW here is where the Princess won her saddle in the drawing.
I think he finally joined the DAV here too. Next month the local post is having lasagne dinner. It was Chili this month.
The local AL post doesn’t seem to do much...just Bingo night.
PS I should tattle on you...calling him the No...naughty naughty!
I remember that and I remember the intemperate and snotty comments made by some of their national leaders regarding Viet Nam vets. I also remember after I served before the Viet Nam era (2.5 years US Naval Reserve, 3 years US Army, RA, 2 honorable discharges) being told when I attempted to join both the VFW and the American Legion, that my service didn't count because it took place at the "wrong time"
Now look at what they have. They did it to themselves.
TS
I tried to join VFW 15 years ago. Over the course of almost a year and a half and many restarts the organization could not get my name or service number right and could not get military verification for my eligibility because they would not spell my name right or even use the right name. I would go over it letter by letter and digit by digit but when the paper came back it would always be wrong, sometimes in highly creative ways, usually with name order reversed. I gave it up. That level of incompetence was astounding to me and I no longer desired to be part of such an organization.
“but his conduct was still reckless and put other people’s lives at risk.”
How is that? You never saw him drive. He drove better with a dozen beers than most people I see everyday driving sober.
Are you always this prejudiced!
The post here seemed very eager to get me on board 15 years ago because the membership had been declining and they needed “fresh blood” but their incompetence with paperwork kept me out.
I think it is outrageous to arrest anyone who has not done anything wrong.
>>>>DWI is wrong. Legally, morally...there’s simply no justification for driving while impaired by drugs or alcohol. Period. I liken it to driving while talking on cell phones and running over someone. If you’re impaired in any way and kill someone, you’re at fault. Would you also condone airline pilots for flying while under the influence? How about brain surgeons?
You on the other hand apparently countenence the new Puritanism where things are evil and our rights are squashed.
>>>>No, not at all. I just use my common sense and know that it’s highly dangerous and when you drink and drive you take other people’s lives into your hands. Just because there’s been no accidents while DWI, that only means you’ve been lucky! And it’s not like there’s not sheer mountains of evidence!
We had a member who got caught driving over .08 4 times = never had an accident and lost his life for 25 years.
How is that justice.
>>>>Did he go through rehab? Or did he just decide laws don’t apply to him all the way to the point his freedom was less imporatant than drinking and driving?
BY FAR the stories I’ve heard is the man who’s been arrested over and over and finally kills someone and people are asking why wasn’t he locked up before he killed someone or a whole family!?
I’m a member of the VFW and have had a DWI btw...
I’m certain it is, but shouldn’t. The VFW and American Legion need to find growth oriented leadership and find out why the younger vets aren’t interested. I do believe there is a way to make them organizations in which the younger ones would want to take part.
I have always felt the veteran’s organizations should be taking the lead in every patriotic holiday and celebration. They should be a political force as well.
I let my VFW and American Legion membership expire ten years ago. I’m going to reinstate them.
I understand where you are coming from.
I joined when I got back from Gulf I in ‘91. One of my first nights in there, several guys started giving me grief about Desert Shield/Storm being a “cakewalk”.
Later, I noticed that it was NOT an exclusive club... they were letting the general public in.
Yep, you guessed it. Some of those giving me crap about the Gulf had never gotten closer to it (or any other military service) than watching it on CNN.
I let my membership drop, and I have never been back.
And they were hustling to find Grenada vets and Panama vets to get them in.
The VFW has a concept flaw. Their membership is based not on being a veteran, but being a war veteran. This guarantees that their membership will be cyclical. They are dependent on war.
They should have long ago embraced the idea that while war veterans are special, veterans who did not fight in wars are far closer to them than civilians. Veterans who did not fight in wars still have many of the same beliefs, honor, and the same respect for the uniform.
Had they included veterans who did not fight in wars, they could have maintained steady support for an organization that would still recognize their special status. Their posts would not be closing, and there would be young blood and new money supporting it.
Veterans who did not fight in wars are highly respectful of those who did. And since most civilians can barely tell the difference between a military and police uniform, the VFW should have long ago opened its doors to veterans who not only know very well what that uniform and its decorations mean, but appreciate them as well.
If he got pulled over 4 times his driving couldn’t have been that great.
Have you heard of a DD 214....either you are elgibile or not....don't try to BS the folks my friend...
Didn't exist before 1947. Twelve million in uniform in WWII. Far fewer in uniform in succeeding wars. Not hard to figure their problem.
I call bovine secretions....I guess you and John Kerry must have the same problem....inability to produce a DD 214...
A few years after I returned from Vietnam, I went to the local VFW with my Dad, who was both a Vietnam and WWII Vet. Some of the members made it clear that I was not welcome. My Dad was pretty embarrased about it. While I kept my VFW membership for a number of years after that, I never again set foot inside a VFW post.
I can’t imagine that my nephew who is serving his second tour in Iraq would even bother to go in the first time.
And I'll bet he didn't have his seat belt on either, that nasty old guy. Let's fine him for that too. And see if you can't get him for mis-matched socks, too, while you are at it, which you are. You should understand that using a broad brush mostly causes more problems than it fixes. Look at the guys record, he was not some drunk. What I want to say to you is to use your own mind and not mindlessly parrot the crap that has been poured into you head by our government schools.
Have you heard of the American Legion???
No offense to my hotel pin-wearing bretheren, but that gave me a sad chuckle.
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