Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
TOM ZUCCOWith most of their members now older, veterans organizations are depending on younger vets for survival.
After serving as a paratrooper in World War II, Frank Walt returned home to Trenton, Mich., in 1945 with bits of metal in his arm and a plan.
He found a job, got married and spent the next several decades raising a family. On his list of things to do, joining a veterans group like the American Legion or the Veterans of Foreign Wars was somewhere near the bottom.
"From time to time, I'd get literature from those groups," said Walt, who still carries the shrapnel fragments in his right elbow. "Even the Purple Heart Club. But I never had any contact with them. There were mortgage payments, my family, my job . . . too many other things."
It wasn't until he retired and moved to Florida in 1985 that he became active in the VFW and the American Legion.
"I joined to be with people in my age group," said Walt, 78. "You don't see younger people at my VFW, but there are some at the American Legion."
When Jonathan Hutton came home from Iraq last month, he still had sand in some of his clothes. An Army specialist 4th class, Hutton, 19, is an infantryman with the 101st Airborne Division. Stationed north of Baghdad, he had to dodge rockets and small arms fire during his foot patrols.
"All I heard when I got home was, "You can go down to the VFW and get beer,' " said Hutton, who grew up in St. Petersburg. "Well, for one thing, I'm not 21 yet.
"And I've never set foot in one of those places. From what I hear, it's mostly old guys sitting around, smoking and drinking. That's just not the kind of thing I want to join, and most of the guys I served with feel pretty much the same way."
The question is whether younger veterans like Hutton will one day change their minds.
For many veterans organizations to remain a force, they will have to.
It is, at least in part, a numbers game.
Veterans who served during World War II, Korean and Vietnam account for more than half of all American veterans. It's a large but rapidly graying group; nearly all are age 50 or older.
So the pool of veterans from which the service organizations can draw is shrinking as those older vets die.
Membership numbers reflect that trend. After a period of declining membership, veterans groups such as the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans and Veterans of Foreign Wars have seen their numbers stabilize, mostly because of the influx of Vietnam veterans who are taking the place of aging World War II and Korean War vets.
But those Vietnam vets, most of whom are in their late 50s or older, will eventually leave the groups, too. The ranks of the veterans groups would then have to be filled by a smaller pool of Gulf War era and Iraqi war vets.
And officials from several veterans groups aren't sure that will happen. The obstacles they see range from a simple generation gap to the differences between conscripted and volunteer armies to societal changes that make people less likely to be "joiners."
The American Legion, the largest of the veterans service organizations, has a membership of about 2.8-million. Vietnam era veterans now make up the largest block, about 800,000. The next largest group is World War II veterans. Gulf War vets and those from Operation Iraqi Freedom are approaching about 100,000.
American Legion membership has declined in recent years but has stabilized and now is growing slightly, said American Legion spokesman Steve Smithson. "Regardless of the rumors of our demise, we are growing."
The main goal of the group, established in 1919, is service first - advocating veterans rights and benefits and helping in the community - and membership second, Smithson said.
"And we're not a bunch of old guys sitting in a bar drinking beer. That's not who we are or what we're about," he said.
But Smithson acknowledged that attracting younger members "is not an easy task. We're changing the message we're trying to get out. We've even changed the brochures we give out. You won't see anyone with gray hair."
Veterans groups like the Legion may need to update their pitch to younger vets, but it's also a waiting game.
"I'm noticing an increase in our membership but not an increase in overall membership in veterans groups," said Steve Robinson, spokesman for the National Gulf War Resource Center Inc., a Washington-based Gulf War advocacy group. "People don't start to get involved until it affects them personally."
It helps to remember, Robinson said, that today's soldiers are different from those who served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam in more ways than the weapons they carried.
Many of the older vets were not volunteers, and many didn't have a high school diploma. During the height of the Vietnam War, it was common in some areas for local judges to offer a choice between jail time and military service.
But most important, Robinson said, is the image.
If the service organizations have one thing in common, it's a tireless devotion to helping veterans and their families.
"But in a lot of cases, what's important to them is not what's important to the younger people just coming back from war," said Robinson, 41, who served in the Army for 20 years.
"I like going to VFW and DAV posts, but they're not the kind of crowd I would hang out with.
"The veterans groups have to shift to topics that draw younger vets in. If you go into a bar run by World War II or Vietnam vets, they're not always going to want to hear about your silly 100-day Gulf War. I've heard World War II vets say, "You didn't have it hard.' I said, "Sir, I respect you. But we didn't dictate where the war would be fought or for how long.'
"It's like every guy who went to Ranger school says he had the hardest class. It's the same way with war. Every vet looks at next generation and says, "We had it harder than you.' "
At a time when the government is considering closing down vet centers and VA hospitals, Robinson said, Gulf War and Iraqi Freedom vets need to recognize that could affect them and that veterans groups can help.
"The younger vets don't know it yet," Robinson said, "but there's a battle going on over veterans benefits."
One of the most widely discussed ways for veterans groups to counter a drop in their numbers is to consolidate. But that may not be likely.
"There is a move in the veterans service community to try to merge under one umbrella," he said. "It would give us a stronger voice, but there's been resistence to the idea because of turf battles over access and admission."
Membership criteria vary. The American Legion takes veterans from eligible war eras. Veterans of Foreign Wars members must have served overseas and earned an eligible campaign or service medal. Disabled American Veterans is open to those with a disability incurred in military service in war or armed conflict.
"The bigger groups . . . are trying to maintain their individuality," Robinson said. "But they're finding they're not representing themselves in a way that is attractive.
"People just don't want to join."
Robert Thomson, director of membership affairs for the 47,000-member Vietnam Veterans of America Inc., said there may be a lesson to be learned from Vietnam vets - one of the most difficult groups to recruit.
"For a lot of Vietnam vets, the war was a bad experience," Thomson said. "The vets ask, "Why in the world would I want to join a veterans organization?' They have a bad taste in their mouths. It was a bad war. They were bad veterans."
But Thomson argues it's exactly for that reason that the veterans organizations are needed.
"About 45 percent of our members belong to the Legion or the VFW," he said. "I think that has to do with the social activities that go on at those posts. Our office is in Washington, but the other organizations have posts all over the country. They're easy to get to."
Still, there are problems.
"My parents were in Kiwanis and Rotary because at that time, it was important to join," Thomson said. "You made business contacts and networked. But because of the Internet and the way our lives have changed, a lot of people don't see that need as much anymore.
"Veterans service organizations face that same challenge."
Tom McKeon came home from Vietnam in 1969. He took a month off and then rejoined the Philadelphia Police Department. The department had its own VFW post, so McKeon signed up. But he didn't attend meetings. He joined primarily so he could get benefits such as life insurance.
But it wasn't until McKeon retired and moved to Florida nearly 20 years later that he became active in the VFW and the Vietnam Veterans of America Inc. He also made an unsuccessful bid for sheriff of Pinellas County in 2000.
"You have a lot of catching up to do when you get back home," said McKeon, 59. "If younger veterans sign up for those groups, it'll happens later in life."
At least that's the hope.