What do you think about the "Veterans of Foreign Wars" (VFW) one day changing their policies to include veterans with no foreign service?

It will be 50 years next Aug 2024 when I went in and I'm so glad I never went into Combat after seeing people coming home from Vietnam being called baby killers and worse. I did six years and got out a very small time compared to my whole life. Went in at 17 young and dumb-Never even think about joining any clubs to hang out and drink and tell stories. Not my thing. Women and Men have no idea how the military was treated back in the '60s and early '70s The same people who used to spit at us are in charge now.

Unfortunately membership in all organizations of this type is sagging dramatically and the influx of younger members is just not happening. In order to continue the organizational mission into the future decisions have to be made that will not sit well with current members. I don't think the leadership can be faulted for taking steps in trying to preserve the future of any organizations. Will it work? Only time will tell. When the Reserve Officers Association took in members of the Retired Enlisted Enlisted Association and merged with them it did not help at all. In fact membership numbers decreased. Tough calls! Personally I belong to the American Legion and would not qualify for membership i the VFW as it stands now. Would I join if the policy changed? Probably not. At 80+ years old I have membership in too many organizations and don't need to join any more. But then again the VFW and other such organizations are not looking for guys like me. They want and need 'young blood'!

With the plethora of veteran service organizations, you can belong to more than one.
Then again with our recent experiences with deploying troops so often and so widely it's more about defining what constitutes the war part.

That is what the American Legion is for. Semper Fi

There are multiple Veterans Organizations that any Veteran can join. The VFW is specific for combat Veterans, but those same Veterans can also join the American Legion, American Veterans (AMVETS), Disabled American Veterans (DAV), and more, so tell "all of your friend groups" to go join those organizations also if that is the only way they can interact with this Marine.
I am not a combat Vet, but I am a Lifetime member of AMVETS and current President of my local AMVETS Riders Chapter in NC. Our Post and Chapter have combat Vets and some of them are also DAV and VFW and Legion members also. Note that the Legion also has Riders Chapters if any of you are riders. Find one and help do good things for your local Veterans that may be in need of help.

I don't know about the other organizations, but AMVETS also has Sons of AMVETS (for the husbands, sons, and grandsons of Veterans) and the Ladies Auxiliary (for the wives, daughters and granddaughters of Veterans), so you can make it a family affair.

I fail to understand the meaning of foreign war. My dad served in the navy in WW2. He never left the States and was a member at our VFW all his life. He even kept the bar there. Was he illegible? I trained airman during the V.N. "police action" and never left our country. Can I belong? I am considered a V.N. vet by the VA. What gives?

Considering the fact that we have not experienced a declared war since Vietnam, organizations like the VFW have been losing members due to attrition by death. The Vietnam Veterans of America, for example, have made the decision to close their doors forever, once the organization becomes too small to operate.

The VFW may be facing some of the same issues as the VVA. However, one also has to look at the services that these veterans' organizations provide. One of the major services is assisting veterans in filing their disability claims with the VA. And while foreign military service may be decreasing, our National Guard and military reserve activities will not. And, today, it is hard enough to get help for filing for VA disability. For that reason, alone, we should support whatever decision the VFW decides to make, and should they decide to change their membership requirements, they will still be here to help our veterans in need.

If they do not qualify for VFW, they do not qualify.

But if they just want to "hang out" with their old service pals, last I checked (which I will admit is a LONG time ago) VFW members can invite non-members to hang out with them. Won't be able to do meetings and such, but can swap sea stories at the bar.

And even if that is no longer the case, there is nothing stopping people from hosting their own BBQ or dropping in on and old friend or even inviting the war vets to the Legion Hall - after all, VFW members are also eligible to be Legion members.

As far as the VFW dying, you have identified the symptom, but mis-diagnosed the disease. The disease is not exclusivity. It is relevance. There are tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of GWOT vets who are eligible. How many have joined? I am among those who have not. And why should I? What does the VFW honestly offer me that I cannot get from going to my buddy's house (bearing in mind that my buddy is AD and the other two couple also have one AD member) for game night?

VFW has built itself a reputation of sad, bitter old men splitting their time between lamenting their lost youth and cursing the youth of today - including us young war vets from GWOT. If you want to keep the VFW alive, you need to change its reputation.

Many Veterans weren't directly there in War, many were in Units that were indirectly, but still played in a support roll, I'm not sure if this is what you consider never served on Foreign Soil

It’s all the name. Nuff said.