The American Legion and VFW will almost certainly die off. Will it really matter to younger veterans?

Great question! I’m on the VFW mailing list email and snail mail and I have the quarterly magazine. I actually thave drove monthly emails from VFWs video game division Combat Tested Gaming (CTG). It’s a year round tournament league featuring popular video games with free access like Madden 25 and Rocket League both games even have coaches to help the players improve! Maybe the VFW halls may go the way of big box stores but it’s increasing its online footprint just like many other organizations like retail. We 9/11 junior enlisted were led by old millennials such as myself (United States Air Force 199-2005) and we even brought our Xbox and PlayStations to deployments! Many VFW veterans like myself are lifetime gamers and with modern technology like headsets and mobile devices it’s even easier to connect now more than ever. The days of getting blind drunk and honing about the bad old days will soon pass. From what I’ve noticed we millennial war veterans are very outspoken about veterans rights and benefits. We understand our worth thanks to being go an all volunteer force. Much like active duty we will leave no veteran behind!

Blessings to all!

These younger vets better think again and do everything they can to save the Legion & VFW, these two groups are the reason you have VA Benifits, a college benefit and why you continue to have them. The Legion storms the hill twice a year to make sure that Congress knows what is important to veterans.
Tye Legion wrote the us flag code, and wrote the initial concept of the VA.
You need to stay together as a united front with the most members Posible to make Congress listen.

I have fond memories of the VFW, before it closed.

As a member that is one of the issues I'm working on - attracting younger people - however it is a hard sale with all the competing social media platforms. Instead of connecting with strangers, veterans are able to stay in touch with the individuals that they served with regardless of proximity. I myself was reluctant to join but did so I as I didn't like the idea of not having these services organizations around. I feel they can serve as an advocate for veterans' benefits.

I'm 54, a Veteran and a VFW Post Quartermaster. 47% of our Post is 75 years old or older, but we now have 3 officers in our Post that are under 55, one under 40. My membership recommendation this year was "50 under 50" -- go find 50 new members under 50 years old. 6 weeks in, we have 5 so far. I don't know that this generation of Post-911 warriors won't join... the internet can't replace everything. I do think though that these organizations will have to adapt To the 21st Century) if they want to survive!

VFW’s problem. You must be a veteran of a foreign war. If being a veteran were enough they could thrive. That particular bit of exclusion is costing them all.
That’s all right if they don’t mind I suppose,

I've never been a member but I looked into it in the early 70s at my hometown's American Legion and the VFW in the next town over.
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VFW It was the 3 Rs from 3 different members w/n 10 minutes.
Rude - "Yer shouldn't even be allowed in here since you never fought a 'real war'".
Racist and I mean "I know yer daddy. Isn't he that half-breed from Oklahoma?" kind of racism.
Rich - "Yer got to support everything we tell you to and that costs money. Hope you got deep pockets because here's the list of what you have to donate this amount this month.
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American Legion - Took my money and wouldn't talk to me afterward when I dropped by. Never gave a membership card.
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I became part of the 'Hey! You're a Vet? Mind if I sit with you and have lunch? Thanks. So what service were you? Club'. Works better for me that way.
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Did I say that I was real glad when Rally Point came online?
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Here's a follow-up on the problem that might help since I like to provide solutions, not just have a whine and cheese party. Here's my advice.
1. Recruit younger members.
2. Teach them the different club leadership positions, having them mentored in those positions for 3-4 months.
3. After they're proficient - let them run the jobs while their predecessor are still able to enjoy things without the responsibilities.
4. Elect officers not by the rank they held in the service.
5. After 6 months to a year, step aside and let the new guys keep the posts 'alive'.
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TRUST THEM.

It will matter, many people do not realize all that the VFW and American Legion do not only locally, but on a National Level. Most benefits veterans have today are because of these groups, and if they die off there will be no larger legislative group to fight the way that they do, or help local veterans the way that they do.

This year as VFW State Commander I have seen many posts struggle to be more relevant to the new generation of vets and I have seen great success. I have seen failures in congress to get the right bills passed for our troops and veterans. A larger membership would help that but if the younger vets don't care to help in that respect we older ones will still fight to do what is right for all veterans. I have seen young veterans getting involved in the VFW and doing great things. We stood up two new VFW posts and resurrected 4 Posts from the dead this year. These are posts with current generation vets in charge and running the posts. Locally my district has 8 posts only one has a canteen(bar) and it is fading away. The others are either ahead in membership from last year or holding steady the ones that are growing continue to grow. We continue to do the right things. My post delivered 30,000lbs of relief supplies to Texas this year with a total cost of less than one hundred dollars to the post and we don't even have a post home. We are just active in the community and the community filled the needs when we asked. The cash that was donated was used to rent Uhauls and pay for fuel and meals on the trips. We drove straight thru to save on lodging. Our local government calls us when a veteran needs help and we help. I don't see the VFW going away anytime soon those Vets with an attitude of service to others will keep us around for years to come. All that said there are several posts that don't do the right thing we are working on it and if you would like to help remember the membership runs the VFW not the commander... get enough votes on the floor of the meetings and great things can happen. Make the VFW meet your needs it can happen and does all the time.

I just recently joint the American Legion after thinking about it for years. What are my expectations. Maybe a yearly reunion, virtual contact, comradeship.