VA Watchdog Stuff
cups, hats, shirts
click here to
support the site





Be sure to get all five
VA Watchdog dot Org
RSS feeds --
Daily VA
News Flashes
House CVA
Veterans' News
Senate CVA
Veterans' News
VA Press
Releases
VSO Press
Releases

Download your
free copy of the
2007 VA benefits
handbook here...

Printer-Friendly Version

OLD SOLDIERS JUST FADING AWAY -- Two stories about two

VFW Posts that are closing due to lack of membership.

Members of the former Mendon Veterans of Foreign War Post 4898, from left, Merlin Huff, Morris Ballman, L.D. Ballman, Vernon Yeomans, Sharon Buchner and Ted Talbot, stand in front of the building that was their meeting place since 1971. The state VFW closed the post in November. (photo: Jonathon Gruenke / Gazette)

We have two stories about two VFW Posts that are closing.  The first is from Michigan...the second from California.

First story here... http://blog.mlive.co
m/kzgazette/2008/01/old_soldiers_just_fading_away.html

Story below:

-------------------------

Old soldiers just fading away

Posted by Jeff Barr | Gazette

MENDON -- It is a simple structure next to a farmer's field gone barren for the winter. Powder-blue paint peels from its surface; like the adjacent acreage, this old brick-and-wood building sits empty.

Veterans of Foreign War Post 4898 is no more.

The Mendon VFW Post was ordered closed on 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 the post's shutdown.

The building at the corner of Nottawa and Longnecker streets was a school house when it was built in 1871, and then sat vacant for years. It was transformed into a medical-implement manufacturing facility, sat vacant again, then was given to the VFW in 1971.

From 1945 to 1971, Post 4898 was based in Centreville.

"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," said Robert Weiss, Michigan's VFW adjutant quartermaster and a Vietnam veteran.

VFW officials at the state and national levels, along with former Post 4898 members, say the Mendon post is symbolic of a widespread issue.

"VFW membership is aging everywhere, and as we lose members, they aren't being replaced by younger veterans," Weiss said. "At a lot of places, it's just a few guys in their 80s. Posts all around the country are being forced to close or to consolidate."
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 from 66,562 to 61,891.

Since 1997, the number of VFW posts nationwide has 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 last week.

"It's not just Mendon," Weiss said. "It's happening all over."

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 Memorial Day parades in Mendon, Centreville and Nottawa.

Post 4898 members formed a color guard at all home games for the state-champion Mendon High School football team, and -- despite their scant numbers -- they continued to form honor guards firing salutes at the funerals of area veterans whose families requested a military ceremony.

"We might only have had three rifles and a flag, but we were there," 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.

"The VFW represents tradition, sacrifice and patriotism," Talbot said. "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 half-dozen active members of Post 4898 were informed by letter from VFW District 7 Vice Commander Andy Conklin that the post would be closing. The vets were told to turn in their keys, remit funds, hand over ceremonial rifles and submit all post records to the VFW Department of Michigan.

"It was a sad day, a real sad day," Talbot said. "After 60 years, to just be told your post was being closed, and to have no say in the matter ... it just wasn't a very good feeling.

"We have been connected to this community for such a long time."

The most visible displays of VFW activity -- in Mendon and throughout the nation -- might be the parades and honor guards, but the organization's primary focus is to help veterans receive disability benefits. In 2007, the VFW helped more than 14,000 Michigan veterans win claims against the VA for a total of $68 million in benefits, Weiss said.

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 said 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."

-------------------------

Second story here... http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_8084760

Story below:

-------------------------

San Pedro VFW Post Plays Taps

By Donna Littlejohn, Staff Writer

They fought in Europe and the Pacific, defeating the enemy in what was the most widespread global war in history.

And when the soldiers and sailors came home from World War II in 1945, meeting halls began to fill up with vets who swapped war stories and, in the process, made lifelong friendships while sponsoring a host of charitable causes.

But the years have caught up with the men of San Pedro's Veterans of Foreign Wars. Last month, the 84-year-old post closed for good.

With all of the post's officers now over 80 - and many of them in poor health - the members held their final meeting on Dec. 31.

"We're mostly World War II vets and during the last nine months we've had so many members have strokes," said Post Commander Jere K. Morgan, 84. "We just couldn't continue on."

The Harbor Devore Post was established in 1924 and in its heyday - the 1960s and '70s - membership topped 600.

Now there are about 110 members. But age and health problems prevent many of them from participating the way they did in their younger years.

"We've got the membership, but they're just not attending the meetings," said member Robert Dennewill, 86. "It's something we knew was coming."

Efforts over the past two years to consolidate with a nearby VFW post in Lomita didn't work out. The San Pedro post officially closed out its books at its Dec. 31 meeting, voting to distribute its $22,680.49 in assets to various veterans-related causes. The post did not own a building and most recently was meeting monthly at Peck Park Auditorium.

"I'm just sorry it happened while I was commander, Morgan said.

Jerry Newberry, director of communications and public affairs for the national VFW in Kansas City, Mo., said several issues have affected the amount of time people have to give to volunteer organizations.

"Young (veterans) are busy thinking about getting an education, starting a career and raising a family, so they really don't have the time or inclination to join a volunteer organization," said Newberry, 56, a Vietnam War veteran who also served in Iraq.

There also were more vets from World War II - 7 million - than from any war since, he said.

Even so, the VFW saw a significant bump in new members during the 1990s, he said.

"The numbers didn't just go through the roof after World War II," Newberry said. "We had the highest number of members in the 1990s, so our numbers now are as high as they were after World War II and in the late 1970s."

There are 8,000 posts with 2.3million members throughout the world, with a number of chapters operating in the South Bay.

And new VFW posts continue to open, though sometimes offering members and their family a new twist, Newberry said.

"Times have changed," he said. "Some posts are folding and giving up their charters but we also are opening new posts.

"A lot of them understand they have to change with the times. The ones that have their own buildings are trying to change the old smoky club room into something that's more family-friendly. So instead of a pool table, they'll have a video room."

The VFW traces its roots back to 1899, when veterans of the Spanish-American War and the Philippine Insurrection founded local organizations to secure rights and benefits for those who were in the service, according to the VFW's Web site.

By 1936, membership stood at about 200,000.

The organization has been active in establishing the Veterans Administration, creating a GI bill for the 21st century, developing a national cemetery system and fighting for compensation for Vietnam vets exposed to Agent Orange and for veterans diagnosed with Gulf War syndrome.

The VFW, with the motto "Honoring the dead by helping the living," also fought to improve VA medical centers and services for women veterans.

The local VFW has sponsored Scout troops, school essay contests and scholarships as well as participated in parades and Memorial Day services.

Devore members are being urged to join other posts or to become VFW members-at-large.

The post designated $10,000 to the VFW's National Home in Eaton Rapids, Mich.; $5,000 to the Blue Star Mothers of Torrance; and $5,000 to the Junior ROTC program at San Pedro High School. The balance of the group's funds will be turned over the local VFW District.

Both Morgan and Denewill served in World War II.

Denewill enlisted in the Army on April 24, 1942, and served in North Africa and Europe. He went on to have a career in the Air Force after the war was over.

Morgan was in the Navy submarine service. He was asked to join the VFW in 1962 when he owned JM Tires on 13th Street and Pacific Avenue.

"I was approached to join (the VFW) and I didn't hesitate," he said. "I joined right up."

He thinks the VFW will be around awhile.

"I think when (more recent veterans) get older they'll join," he said. "But now people have so many recreational deals going. Years ago we didn't have the outlets people do today."

donna.littlejohn@dailybreeze.com

-------------------------

posted by Larry Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org

Don't forget to read all of today's VA News Flashes (click here)

Click here to make VA Watchdog dot Org your homepage

email Larry

(go back to VA Watchdog dot Org Home Page)

VA Watchdog Stuff
cups, hats, shirts
click here to
support the site