One of the reasons the VFW was started after WWI was because the combat veterans needed a place to share without judgment. An elderly friend told me about their experience in the 1950s in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. A number of families and friends would gather after church on Sunday for a dinner. After dinner the ‘men folk’ would go out on the porch to relax, smoke and share stories. Often it turned to their experiences in WWII. The women would stay inside with the window open to get a breeze inside the house. They say while the men were talking and sharing their experiences, the women were silent. Because they were listening to stories shared by their loved-ones. Stories that the loved-ones did not feel appropriate to be shared with their wives and daughters.