Edmonds Veterans Groups Seek New Members

A military platoon is made up of people from all over the country. Once a service member separates from the military, they lose that bond. That is one of the reasons former Marine Corps Sergeant Kyle Berns likes to associate with other veterans.

The camaraderie and the pestering of a friend spurred Berns to join the local Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) post. He considers the members of veteran organizations to be surrogate buddies to replace the ones he served shoulder to shoulder with.

“I kinda like having a connection to the old-school guys,” Berns said. “Because their stories are better.”

This is good news to local veteran organizations. With World War II veterans dying at a rate of 1,000 a day, groups such as the VFW and American Legion are looking for new members.

Edmonds Mayor Mike Cooper, who is the grandson of a WWII veteran, said he's seen the reduction in numbers at local veterans groups over the years.

Les Abel, judge advocate for the Edmonds American Legion Post 66, agreed that his group would like to attract younger members.

“We are all getting older,” Abel said. “We don’t seem to have that many younger vets in Edmonds."

Abel has been trying to recruit younger members into the organization. But word of mouth and booths at local events don’t seem to be bringing in new members.

Post 66 recently lost a member, taking their numbers below 80. However, the post has fewer than 15 active members right now.

Cooper said that Edmonds benefits from its veterans groups, as the members are typically civicly minded.

“I think it is a large loss to our community to not have these groups,” Cooper said.

Edmonds VFW Post 8870 Cmdr. Jim Traner sees the meeting time as inconvenient for many younger people.

“First of all, we meet during the day,” Traner said. “That is a large part of it.”

Traner, a sergeant with 11th Cavalry in Vietnam, was the youngest VFW member for a long time. Recently he has seen an influx of Vietnam veterans, some of whom have been out of the service for 40 years. He noted that his generation is getting near retirement age and have time for such groups now.

In addition to meeting at lunchtime, the monthly VFW gatherings are also held at the senior center, which does not attract younger vets. The American Legion, however, meets at night and still can’t get a majority of their members to show up, Abel said.

The organizations would really like to see veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars join them and help keep them going.

Legion and VFW members want these organizations to continue to flourish, not for themselves, but for future veterans. On a national level, these groups have a lot of political power and work to make sure that veterans are being taken care of. Without WWII veterans pushing for it, there would have been no G.I. bill, for example. Traner noted that no one takes care of veterans like other veterans.

“A million veterans on their own can’t do anything,” Traner said. “You put a million veterans into an organization and have that organization speak as one voice for those veterans, you now have a lot of clout.”

Veteran John Harrison, who served on submarines from 1978 to 1988, said he's concerned that if more young people don’t start joining veteran organizations, the groups will lose their political power.

At 26, Berns is one of the youngest members of the Edmonds VFW post. He can’t get away from work during the day to make the meetings but supports the post by helping out with the fundraising events.

Berns, who left the Marines in 2004, said a lot of vets know about the VFW but don’t want to join any organization after getting out of the service.

There is a perception that military-service organizations are good old boy clubs, but that is not the case, Traner said. Able agrees; there is a camaraderie that all veterans share that he enjoys.

“The VFW is not your grandfather’s organization. It is your brother’s organization,” Berns said. “Facebook can’t compare to old military buddies.”

Harrison attributes online networking to creating more of an individual social mindset rather than a community one. “People aren’t as connected locally,” he said.

Abel believes that a lack of understanding of the organizations is also a reason why younger people don’t join. The VFW and American Legion are two different groups, despite the fact that many people are members of both.

To be a member of the VFW, a veteran must have served in a recognized combat zone and have the documentation to prove it. The discharge form used by all the armed forces will denote overseas service. The American Legion, however, only requires service in a time of war.

“There is a period of time that counts,” Abel said. “You don’t have to have been overseas.”

Even if someone served for only one day during a time of war, they are eligible to join the Legion. WWII, Korea, Vietnam -- even the time for Grenada counts. Legion eligibility has been open for anyone who has served since the first Gulf War. Anyone who has spent a day in the military since 1990 can join the Legion.

Traner also noted that he would really like to see the younger women veterans join. He doesn’t see many female vets at the local post level. Post 8870 only has a couple female veterans and only one officer. Traner said there are more women at the national level.

When he can, Traner invites younger veterans to the post. He regularly attends the meetings of Club Vet at Edmonds Community College and has recently reached out to the Husky United Military Veterans (HUMV) at the University of Washington. VFW Post 8870 even pays the yearly dues of eligible college students and active military members.

“I am reaching out,” Traner said. “They need to reach back.”

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(PETER SESSUM is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.)