Veterans of Foreign War posts — where members could socialize with other veterans — are rapidly closing across the state and the nation as aging members die and younger veterans choose not to join. Kansas currently has 122 VFW posts. But since 2000, 73 have closed, many of them in the state’s rural areas. World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War veterans — who have traditionally filled the posts — are dying off.
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, there are 1,147 World War II veterans dying per day, 500 per day for Korean War veterans and 426 for Vietnam War veterans.
The average age of current VFW members is between 60 and 65. “These veterans started dying off, and we are not replacing them fast enough at the rate they are expiring,” said Michael Holland, Kansas VFW state commander from Arkansas City. “It’s taking a toll, and things aren’t quite changing quite as fast to (accommodate) the younger veterans.”
Historically, the VFW has been a fraternal organization with membership restricted to veterans who have been part of a war campaign in a foreign country. It is the nation’s oldest veteran’s organization, dating back to the Spanish-American War. But members are asking: Is it still relevant?
Declining Membership
The VFW reached its membership heyday in the early 1990s. The group had as many as 2.1 million members in the U.S. during the 1990s; in more recent years, that number is closer to 1 million.
Kansas currently has just fewer than 20,000 members. “Vietnam veterans have reached their peak,” said Jim Denison, a 70-year-old Vietnam War veteran. “With the old posts in western Kansas that we have had, most of their members have been either World War II and Korea and some Vietnam. “But these posts are not able to sustain themselves with the dying of the veterans.”
Yesterday’s VFW posts thrived socially on dinners and dances, activities less needed now in the days of smartphones, Facebook and Twitter — and as younger veterans seek to remain more physically active by doing benefit runs, helping at disaster sites, etc. “The 1950s were called the casserole decade for a reason,” said Jay Price, director of history at Wichita State University. “In a world before social media, the way people got together was by having weekly meetings, bylaws and someone to take minutes. “The World War II veteran generation thought in terms of groups and organizations. But that is not how people relate these days.”
Several things are happening, Price said. Rural counties across the state are losing population — as has been the trend for decades as younger generations move to larger cities or out of state. And social media has become a more preferred means of communication. Historically, VFW posts served as a bridge — a safe haven — for veterans to talk with other veterans at a time when most people didn’t talk about their feelings, Price said.
Within the past two months, posts in Claflin, Ellinwood, Hoisington and St. John have announced they are closing, Holland said. Sedan and Neodesha have already lost their posts. “The guys are older, getting sick and can’t perform duties and do community service,” said Holland, the state commander. “The national (group) has a rule that you have to have 10 active members to be a post and to stay open. “Some communities are talking about consolidating, and smaller ones are closing.”
Different Experiences
Nearly four decades ago, the nation did away with the military draft. Today’s younger veterans volunteered to serve their country, some often being deployed as many as three or four times.
And, once back in the states, many younger veterans became focused on college, careers and family. “I came back and went straight to school, and that’s how I found my way into the VFW,” said Aaron Van Rees, 33, who became involved first with collegiate veterans. He is a member of Wichita Post 3115 and is one of the post’s youngest veterans, having served in two deployments in Afghanistan. “I would be dishonest to say there aren’t generational differences,” he said, “but the experience is what you make it.”
In past generations, the VFW post often served as a place for veterans seeking solace and camaraderie. Now there is more emphasis on family activities. “When people who haven’t served think of a VFW or an American Legion post, they think of one thing: a place to go drink and smoke,” Denison said. “Well, I don’t drink or smoke. “I used my VFW not only for leadership but (as) a place to do community service.”
VFW members say they are working hard to change that image and stereotype. Jeff Rians, commander of Wichita Post 3115, mentions a few of the things the VFW does. When Marine Capt. Chris Norgren, 31, was killed in 2015 when the helicopter he was piloting crashed while delivering disaster relief supplies to earthquake victims in Nepal, local VFW veterans stepped up to honor him, Rians said.
There was a movement to put up some signs at Central and I-235 to remember Norgren. The cost of the signs was $6,200. The local post raised that money within 24 hours. Some of the members are heavily involved in raising money for Passageways — which provides shelter for homeless veterans — and with the VFW Riders, a group that shows up on their motorcycles at flag lines and funerals. “When my (first) husband became ill and later died and I saw how the riders honored him — they rode three and a half hours one way to see him buried at Fort Scott — that made me want to join the riders group and be part of that,” said Anita Rians, who is a member of the VFW auxiliary and participates in the riders group.
In addition, the VFW is a powerful force nationally in advocating for veterans in the nation’s capital and on the state and local levels. The organization also sends care packages to those serving.
Ty Ramsey, 28, of Whitewater is already a lifetime member of the VFW and joined after coming back from Afghanistan after serving in U.S. Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 40. “I’m the only young one,” he said. “I didn’t meet many other guys my age. The rest are still serving or have moved away and never come back.” The reason he joined was to honor his grandfather, who was a VFW member — and to advocate for other veterans.
So why aren’t more young vets like Ramsey joining? “Veterans nowadays about have to have a college degree,” he said. “When they get out, most have families and are trying to work and don’t have a lot of time to go or be in organizations. “Time is a huge factor.” But time is also working against the VFW. Its members say that don’t plan to go away anytime soon. There is still much work to be done on behalf of veterans. “The veterans are the ones who took care of us; now it is our turn to take care of them,” Holland said. “We take care of them. They are part of our community.”