I’m a veteran but didn’t serve in a theater of war. I’m welcome as a guest at our VFW but not eligible for membership. I’m Sr Vice Commander of our American Legion post, however. Both our Legion and VFW posts have more senior members than young, but both are doing well. We have 45 members in our Legion post, and have recruited 5 this past year. But only 3 are from recent engagements.
One thing that needs to be done is a strong recruitment program. Posts need to form recruitment committees with personnel enthused about talking to people and inviting them to meetings.