What would make American Legions and Veteran of Foreign War posts more appealing to join for you?

When I retired (June 1989) I went to a VFW where I lived then (Sacramento, CA). I presented my DD-214 to the member rep. He looked at it, and said "Vietnam the one we lost". I took my DD-214 from him and left. I did not experience that with the American Legion of DAV.

I agree with all the posts. I joined the Legion Post my grandfather was the former manager and Life Member. But I had my location changed but not by me.
I am a three time combat decorated Vet and used VFW as my VA VSO and yet I can’t seem to find the local post. Maybe if we had all of these places more family friendly and oriented….. then we might have stronger posts. Just a thought

My VFW Post activily recruits younger members, and we do it by being a family friendly post and getting involved with the schools and community activities. We had to overcome “but, we’ve never done it that way!” and “How DARE you change things!!”, and actually lost a long time member. But today, 26% of our members are 23 - 45 years old and 41% are under 60. In the last 5 years, 56% of our new recruits are 23-55 years old. It takes time, effort, and including our long term members. We use them in a “senior NCO” status and put the younger ones to work. It helped when our Nam vets got comfortable with the younger ones and could start talking about when they came home.

Not joining seems to be a trend in today's society. Look around at other organizations and their memberships are going down also. Re the older members; they are cliquese to some degree. I remember returning from VN and going into a VFW club, not the open arms for a fellow veteran that I was expecting. As a (R) CSM the attitude towards me is completely different. I totally agree that attitudes towards all veterans should be the same. We are a very small percentage of our country's population and we should support all veterans and families and base these organizations on camaraderie and not on war stories.

You are definitely not a "real soldier" if you're a woman veteran attempting to join. The first question out of their mouths is "Women's Auxiliary?" <snort!>I did join, and for a couple of years I attended each and every meeting. I don't, and I don't even go to the parties as most non-attending people do. They have to realize that we women served as well. After all, many men never saw combat either.

Right on Brother. When are us Nam Vets going to learn. Just think, What will VVA (Vietnam Veterans of America) do when the last of US (I'm a Nam Vet) die?

Start by stopping the alienation of the non combat Arms MOS's. The enemy doesn't ask what your MOS is before they fire on you. As far as the post that I'm a member of, the only advertisement of its existence is the sign on the front of the building. When you get prospective members to sign up or renew their membership, get their email address. That way you can keep them informed of the on going events

"The older members are often not welcoming either... " Well there you have it! You answered your own question! I went to the local posts of both organizations and was basically made to feel not only did my 20 years of service did not count, but also my Gulf War service was a joke to the members. I believe it is these attitudes that are keeping younger vets from joining.

Our service to our Country, our Services, our Corps an our men must be honored. Our family members must be welcomed. We, Veterans, do not appreciate the mismatch of identity. If I served then, I am a Veteran and if my spouse served then, I am a family member. However, family members who have served are considered veterans, too. There is no other way to attract.

The Legion just wants me for my money and a membership number (and a target of solicitations for "charity"). The VFW says the fact that I was Air Force and flew OVER (but not landed) in Nam disqualifies me for consideration --- so, to hell with them!