As they have for the past 65 years, members of Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 8395 in New Harbor gathered on the second Sunday of the month March 13, to renew acquaintances and conduct the business of the Leuign W. Osier Post.
In a small conference room tucked away in the back of the New Harbor fire station, members sit in folded chairs surrounded by trophies, plaques, and other ephemera testifying to the many accomplishments of the post. Although paid membership is listed as 85, the meetings struggle to draw more than a handful of members, said Post Commander Alton Simmons.
“It’s been two years since we’ve had a good meeting,” said Simmons. “The decline started 10 years ago.”
According to Osier Post member Bob Fossett, a Vietnam War veteran, the sparse attendance is putting the New Harbor arm of the venerable organization at risk of closure. Fossett said five members are needed to conduct a meeting but currently only three attend on a regular basis, all of which are officers.
The trend reflects a national decline in VFW membership that has led to the closing of hundreds of posts across the country. Locally, Simmons said VFW posts in Boothbay and Dresden have been forced to shut their doors for good. According to Matthew Clausen, National Membership Director for the VFW in Kansas City, the causes are many.
“Veterans don’t understand what our organization does,” said Clausen. “Ten million veterans are eligible but don’t take advantage of us.”
Clausen said membership is down 17 percent from a peak of 2.2 million in 1992 and continues to shrink as WWII veterans die at the rate of 1500 a day. Out of the 1.5 million VFW members in 2009, 470,000 are older than 80, 230,000 are between 70-80 and less than 1.5 percent are under 50.
“Our biggest problem is retention,” said Clausen. “They think they’re just getting something out of this without understanding what we do.”
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 their service. At the time, veterans did not receive medical care or a pension and were left to fend for themselves without proper representation. To address their considerable frustration, the loosely organized groups banded together and formed the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States.
The movement quickly gained momentum and by 1915, membership grew to 15,000; by 1936, ranks had swelled to almost 200,000. The VFW became an instrumental force in the formation of the Veterans Administration, the creation of the GI bill, and was a leading advocate in the fight for compensation for Vietnam Veterans exposed to Agent Orange, a defoliant used by the US military as part of its herbicidal warfare program.
Clausen said the VFW’s biggest job is advocacy and cites an estimated $1.5 billion that was given back to veterans through the Veterans Administration in 2010 as proof of the organization’s continued relevance. The VFW maintains a powerful team of lobbyists in Washington DC and is currently fighting for the rights of those afflicted with Gulf War Syndrome. To help address the problem, Clausen said efforts have been made to recruit younger veterans.
“We have started campaigns to target those people,” he said. “Our biggest percentage are Vietnam vets. Currently only 1.6 percent are Desert Storm veterans.”
In postwar WWII America, VFW halls were once as ubiquitous as fast food restaurants and became mainstays of rural communities with nearly 10,000 posts operating nationally. The various local chapters served as gathering spots, social hubs, and outposts for a variety of charitable and civic services for the millions of GI’s returning from the war effort. A changing cultural landscape, including the banning of smoking, touched off a steady but slow decline. Today, as the numbers continue to dwindle, local VFW members worry about the future.
“People pay their dues but they don’t show up,” said Fossett. “It’s become critical.”
Compounding the concern is the fact that all three regular attendees are officers, a responsibility that is typically shared amongst many.
“Not everyone wants to be an officer,” Fossett said. “Unfortunately we have no choice.”
Clausen acknowledges the challenge facing the modern VFW but senses an opportunity.
“Our common bond is our collective wartime experience,” he said. “At the end of the day the VFW takes care of veterans, a mission that will continue forever.”
