VFWs looking to widen appeal to younger veterans
At 39, Leroy Chavez may have been the youngest person in the room Saturday at the state convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Colorado Springs.
There were few veterans of the conflicts in Iraq or Afghanistan amidst the graying crowd of old warriors, a situation similar to that in VFWs across the state and nation.
“We’ve got a few, but they’re in Iraq now,” said Bruce Dolan, a member of the VFW in Thornton.
The lack of young veterans was on the minds of post commanders and members from around the state who gathered for the fourday convention. The 1 million men and women who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan could hold the future of the venerable organization.
“There’s a stigma out there that the Veterans of Foreign Wars is just a bunch of drunks hanging onto bars at a club,” said Charley Watkins, chief of staff of the state organization. “That’s not true.”
The VFW was founded in 1899, and VFWs became staples of many communities, boosted by the 16 million World War II veterans who came home and joined veterans groups.
Chavez, a veteran of the Persian Gulf War, said most soldiers returning from Iraq want to focus on moving on and raising their families and don’t have time for groups like the VFW. That’s why the organization is trying to change what it does.
“There are a lot of families, and I think the VFW is working to change its image and be more family friendly,” Chavez said.
The VFWs also are focusing on helping active-duty soldiers and young veterans, through financial assistance, likening them to veterans benefits and sometimes just providing someone to talk to about coming home from war.
“These are people who’ve gone through a similar experience and it’s comforting and that’s what we provide,” Chavez said.
Sen. Ken Salazar, a Colorado Democrat, updated the veterans on what he is doing to help veterans, including pushing for a $600 million Veterans Administration hospital in Denver and a national veterans cemetery in Colorado Springs.
He praised the organization for its work on behalf of veterans.
“The VFW has been at the forefront of making sure we as a nation live up to that promise of taking care of the veterans,” Salazar said.
“I represent you. I’m proud of you,” he said. “You’re my father and mother’s kind of people.”
Still, the struggle within the VFW was apparent before Salazar arrived, when a resolution urging VFWs to make their meetings open to nonmembers — as a way to encourage them to join — caused debate.
The measure passed, with a single “no” vote, though leaders acknowledged some individual VFW groups may be opposed to it.
Said Earl Havens, commander of the state organization, “Those are the same types of leaders we have in the organization that keep running our young veterans away.”
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