Are groups like the American Legion and VFW too Right Wing Conservative for the new generation of Veterans?

Last year I became a member of the VFW in Arkansas. Most of the members are Vietnam Vets some are racist and some are not, most in the leadership role are Democrats. I sit in each meeting and can't wait for each meeting to end. At my local group the night is started off with dinner then we move to the back room. Once we get to the back room the meeting is treated like a ceremony. I have stood in way too many change of command formations and various other ceremonies the military has to spend my free time doing it instead of spending it with my family. Most of the meeting is spent talking about old business, new business, Bingo, Burial Detail and other things I would rather not take part in during my free time. One gentleman in charge of the Burial Detail asked if I had a uniform yet and I replied in the negative. He wanted to make a big deal about getting me one until I made it clear I did not want one. He almost seemed offended so I explained; "I took off the uniform in 2011 and am in no rush to jump into another." I would love to go and talk with Schools, but not as a representative of any organization. When you are a part of an Organization they want you to push a certain message instead of saying what needs to be said.

I suspect the newer Veterans are looking for something different. I am not sure what that is yet. Maybe a Social Club for Combat Veterans. A place where there is no formality or agenda aside from spending time with other Veterans who need to get away or hang out. The problem is the Foreign Legion is a bar where any Veteran can come and drink and the VFW allows anyone who has deployed to come on in and wants you to work bingo nights. The best times I have had with other Vets was hanging out playing poker and having a few beers and then going for a hunt the next day.

If veterans organizations like VFW & AL are to far Right Wing then I'd have to thow Rally Point in with it also. All are a group of brothers in arms dedicated and believe in the values of God Country and Freedom.

I really caught your topic and it is a damned good one. After reading a few replies and analyzing that information, I think this is a complicated question. I thought at first it was simple to answer, but its not. I think the biggest issue is the age difference. For so many years membership declined. I have not decided to join one simply due to personal reasons and while looking at one of them, I couldnt quite decide if they were for me or not. But what is troublesome is the quote below stating how young people get their news from the internet and such.... well we all know,, dont believe what you read on the internet.. and if you are in Intel, you learned to check your sources. The bashing of Fox news is just a simple sign those people are drinking from the same cup of biased news as they say that Fox news is reporting. Those kids are a problem and will remain a problem regardless if they are veterans or not. I last served with teenage kids and in their 20's during the OIF and I fear for our country ever since. They had no core values, they didnt care, they wanted the glory of being in the military without the work to say they earned it. I heard this from other guys my age returning from Iraq. We didnt go so i know i saw a worst attitude. Some of those kids, wisened up over there, I heard. None of mine stateside really did. But back to resolving the issue. These kids have the same rights to assemble and form as we do. Perhaps they dont want the camaraderie,, just the disability check. That wouldnt surprise me, since a lot of those that are more liberal have issues with the military. Most of mine were liberal and hated that i was so authoritative. When I point out to them that Obama is, I get, 'he has to do something to fix it'... but fix what? My point is to 'lets figure out a logical way to do this and do it systematically' is always met with 'no, we need it now'. (this is mostly about Obamacare) There is a huuuuuge difference of opinion between left and right at all ages and what is stupid is, its about the 20% of things we dont agree on. We blame them for that, they blame us for that,,, when are we going to look at ourselves and how we vote and the crooked crony's we reelect into congress. Something has to bring us together again.. veterans as well as citizens. The answer may be the same, it may be different but this boils down to separation of ideology if you ask me. I think we need more parties.. mostly 'sub parties' of each to specifically identify with certain cultural differences in our society. I talked to a strong union pipefitter and we had a great talk. I proposed to him a party of strong constitutional beliefs and strong labor beliefs. although I am white collar now, I believe I and we HAVE to work for our needs/wants. So does he. He also believes in having guns. However, he hated the thought of having an AR. I asked him why and he went to the 'automatic' issue and magazine size. I was stunned. I told him mine doesnt have automatic features and with training I can reload with many 10 round clips with very little delay between the reloads to acoomplish the same mass murder since NO ONE ON SITE IS PROVIDING RETURNING FIRE. he thinks guns should not be on school anywhere and he has kids.. I am still stunned. moving on... I have never heard the N word used in any Hall but that doesnt mean it doesnt happen. I have tried really hard to avoid that myself, simply out of the fact I'm tired of hearing how it reverts to slavery and I had nothing to do with it. To me, its like calling me a cracker or redneck,, big deal, laugh it off. its just a word. Anyway, i know I am kind of rambling but the discussion needs to be opened and it has to be fair and both sides have valid points and issues that need to be taken into consideration. I think the core of us that are 'righties' from the military, stems from protecting the Constitution herself. To us its simple, it fulfills every human's needs and rights, with modifications sometimes, but thats the beauty of it, its not perfect, they knew it wasnt and it should be modified as needed to protect rights. We see the left as picking and choosing which parts to believe in and we see the righties as mostly defending it, just making a kazillion dollars while doing so. Am I right?

I really caught your topic and it is a damned good one. After reading a few replies and analyzing that information, I think this is a complicated question. I thought at first it was simple to answer, but its not. I think the biggest issue is the age difference. For so many years membership declined. I have not decided to join one simply due to personal reasons and while looking at one of them, I couldnt quite decide if they were for me or not. But what is troublesome is the quote below stating how young people get their news from the internet and such.... well we all know,, dont believe what you read on the internet.. and if you are in Intel, you learned to check your sources. The bashing of Fox news is just a simple sign those people are drinking from the same cup of biased news as they say that Fox news is reporting. Those kids are a problem and will remain a problem regardless if they are veterans or not. I last served with teenage kids and in their 20's during the OIF and I fear for our country ever since. They had no core values, they didnt care, they wanted the glory of being in the military without the work to say they earned it. I heard this from other guys my age returning from Iraq. We didnt go so i know i saw a worst attitude. Some of those kids, wisened up over there, I heard. None of mine stateside really did. But back to resolving the issue. These kids have the same rights to assemble and form as we do. Perhaps they dont want the camaraderie,, just the disability check. That wouldnt surprise me, since a lot of those that are more liberal have issues with the military. Most of mine were liberal and hated that i was so authoritative. When I point out to them that Obama is, I get, 'he has to do something to fix it'... but fix what? My point is to 'lets figure out a logical way to do this and do it systematically' is always met with 'no, we need it now'. (this is mostly about Obamacare) There is a huuuuuge difference of opinion between left and right at all ages and what is stupid is, its about the 20% of things we dont agree on. We blame them for that, they blame us for that,,, when are we going to look at ourselves and how we vote and the crooked crony's we reelect into congress. Something has to bring us together again.. veterans as well as citizens. The answer may be the same, it may be different but this boils down to separation of ideology if you ask me. I think we need more parties.. mostly 'sub parties' of each to specifically identify with certain cultural differences in our society. I talked to a strong union pipefitter and we had a great talk. I proposed to him a party of strong constitutional beliefs and strong labor beliefs. although I am white collar now, I believe I and we HAVE to work for our needs/wants. So does he. He also believes in having guns. However, he hated the thought of having an AR. I asked him why and he went to the 'automatic' issue and magazine size. I was stunned. I told him mine doesnt have automatic features and with training I can reload with many 10 round clips with very little delay between the reloads to acoomplish the same mass murder since NO ONE ON SITE IS PROVIDING RETURNING FIRE. he thinks guns should not be on school anywhere and he has kids.. I am still stunned. moving on... I have never heard the N word used in any Hall but that doesnt mean it doesnt happen. I have tried really hard to avoid that myself, simply out of the fact I'm tired of hearing how it reverts to slavery and I had nothing to do with it. To me, its like calling me a cracker or redneck,, big deal, laugh it off. its just a word. Anyway, i know I am kind of rambling but the discussion needs to be opened and it has to be fair and both sides have valid points and issues that need to be taken into consideration. I think the core of us that are 'righties' from the military, stems from protecting the Constitution herself. To us its simple, it fulfills every human's needs and rights, with modifications sometimes, but thats the beauty of it, its not perfect, they knew it wasnt and it should be modified as needed to protect rights. We see the left as picking and choosing which parts to believe in and we see the righties as mostly defending it, just making a kazillion dollars while doing so. Am I right?