Our VFW Posts are in trouble.

From Commander Tom,

I recently came across another hit piece article on the VFW [and Legion to be fair] that we are a dying, smoking, old men’s bar. In the article, several of the members seemed to be proud of their personal barstools! I’m all for being proud of your Post [you may have heard me talk about your Pockets of Patriotism in the past], but we can do better.

We have such a wonderful story to tell and it doesn’t involve smoking and drinking. We have our legislative victories, our stellar claims machine, community service, and Youth Audio Essay programs to name just a few. THAT’S what we need to be telling reporters when they come knocking. Don’t give them what THEY want, tell them what WE really are! It’s easy for our more seasoned members to harken back to days of old when smoking and drinking were the norm. And it’s easy for the older members to say the newer veterans don’t care about this or that. Well, that is simply old man “Get off my lawn” talk and we need to stop it! Newer members won’t join if that’s what they hear and I don’t blame them one bit.

The media thrives on hit piece stories. The reporters are trying to look like Woodward and Bernstein cracking the Watergate case [ok, newer folks google that! :- ) ] Let’s give them the positive information. Let’s be proud of the VFW. Has membership declined since the early 90’s? Yes. That’s a fact. Is it killing the VFW? I think we have proven this year that it hasn’t. We have done more this year than in many of the past years. We don’t focus on membership…we focus on why we are here and that is for service and legislation. As long as we have one living member in the VFW that’s what we are chartered to do and that’s what we will continue to do!

Please let your Posts know that if they get a media inquiry they should be contacting your state headquarters as a heads up and for guidance. Maybe you can get an officer to show up and help the interview. I’m not upset with the local members who get caught up in the moment. That can easily happen. Reporters are great trolls and they want people to dish. That’s their job. Add in a few drinks and it goes downhill from there. Let’s help our local Posts be better with the media.

You are all leaders and I’m proud to be a member of Class 122. We are doing great things and for the next several months we will continue to do great things! The time is now so let’s get to it!

Fritz Mihelcic
Commander in Chief
Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States