I am a life member of the VFW. I think it does a lot of good work in D.C. for veterans. But I have never officially joined a chapter other than the national. The big problem cited for not getting the younger crowd to participate is just the age gap. Its seen (rightly so in many instances) as an old man’s organization. And I’ve heard many chapters don’t make female vets feel welcome. I don’t know of any of my fellow vets from current wars who feel the need to hide or forget their service. Its just a generation gap.
This. Veterans often march in the parades, but the point is remembering those who didn’t come back. Veteran’s Day is for honoring those who did.
This problem goes right back to the beginning; for the post-WWII situation and the history of what led up to it, see Bill Mauldin’s Back Home. Each generation of vets tends to be dismissive of the next.
Regardless of the origin of Memorial Day, for a lot of people now it is in memory of anyone, not just service members. Visiting and cleaning family gravestones on Memorial Day is something I’ve been exposed to since the 1970s.
Dismissive? If anything, I would think only another vet would have the strongest understanding of why not to be dismissive.
I agree, but Mauldin spends two chapters (IIRC) on how crappily the VFW treated WWII vets - they wanted them as members, but only silent ones. Including posts above, I’ve seen comments across the years that each new generation was expected to (1) join (2) follow post and national leader directives, including voting (3) pay dues and (4) shut up.
I have no first hand experience, but have read enough from trustworthy sources to believe it’s credible.
I thought what my family did on Memorial Day (visit family graves) wasn’t that unusual for the times= 50’s through 70’s.