Voice in the Crowd, 291 words
What happens when there are no more veterans?
By Pete Chaney
IPS Features
The American Legion didn’t expect to continue. It was begun with the idea there would be no other wars. But there have been and the Legion and its older colleague the Veterans of Foreign Wars have done much over the years to protect veterans interests, crusade for national defense and work on community projects.
Few World War I veterans are still around. World War II veterans are a vanishing breed. Ranks of Korean War personnel are thinning out. Those from the Vietnam War are less and less. Those from the Gulf War will disappear with time.
Veterans are dying at the rate of over 1,000 a day.
In Chattanooga, the CAVC Honor Guard commanded by Ralph Wilson may do 300 funerals in a year.
By definition, a member of either the Legion or VFW must have seen service during wartime. For the Legion, they must have been in service. For the VFW, they have to have been in combat areas.
To perpetuate itself, both organizations have expanded to such military incidents as the invasion of Grenada. Without members, particularly active ones, an organization must die.
If both organizations don’t find a remedy for recruiting, they will cease to exist and a lot of good work will end.
To its credit, the Legion does have associate members where someone whose parent served may join. The VFW has no such stipulation.
They could open the doors and offer membership to anyone regardless of qualifications. That destroys the camaraderie veterans want.
But if they don’t take participate, what happens?
The time may come when each organization must examine itself to lower the bar or adjust to necessity to live.
Think about this when you celebrate Memorial Day and those who made the supreme sacrifice.
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