Tomorrow is Memorial Day. Not Veterans Day.
“VFW’s are closing by the dozens because there isn’t enough participation”
It’s their own attitude doing that. I went into a VFW in a remote town in Colorado in 1998 with a bunch of veterans who certainly qualify for VFW membership. We were told unless we had Vietnam combat experience that we were not welcome. We left.
Our American Legion Post is on our last leg - ever since the passing of our WW II vets, The Post is not the same. We will probably sell our Post Home in the next year and exist only on paper.
Thank you. I did not know that.
Tomorrow is not Veterans Day, it is Memorial Day. If you are going to visit anywhere, it would be more appropriate to visit a military cemetery to remember and honor the heroic dead.
My father was a Korean War era Army veteran, but he served in the Aleutians and didn’t qualify for the VFW, so he joined the American Legion. It was a great community for him. The evening after he died, the Legion was open and I stopped by to let them know about Dad. I found a bunch of old veterans at the bar drinking beer, and they offered to do a military service during the wake. I had arranged with the funeral director for a flag and honor guard and “Taps” for the funeral, but I didn’t know the Legion did this. It was great, not just as an honor for their old friend and comrade, but as a support for me. My eyes are just a bit moist as I write this.
Anyway, that was my one experience with a veterans’ organization. I am saddened to see their decline. Yes, I know it’s Memorial Day and not Veterans’ Day, but the kind of men who served and made it back give us an idea of what kind of men served and didn’t make it back.
Spent some very pleasant times in VFW, AM Legion, and FRA posts and branches...Some had excellent Memorial day etc. programs. In those with canteens, my experiences were best in locations where the resident veterans organizations and not their canteens ran the operation.
I’m a lifetime member with my home post being in Virginia. Moved to Alabama recently and called the VFW in Fairhope Alabama and asked if they were putting on a breakfast or a ceremony.
I was told to call the American Legion... This post won’t open until 1500 and it’s business as usual.
Can y’all believe that?