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

Maybe the “Leadership” should Quit Backing the Social communist Party! And also remember that VIETNAM WAS NEVER A FUCKEN WAR! And why was that you ask? Because the chickenshit motherfuckers NEVER VOTED IT A WAR! And as Such, have treated Every VETERAN AS PIECES OF SHIT FROM DAY ONE! And before you god fearing pos say anything, Remember when the Sec of State said: We (Government) knew that Vietnam was a piece of shit and we SENT OR BEST OVER TO BE CANNON FODDER! Thank you democrat dick wads!

Thanks for asking this, as I have been asking this myself. Our VFW Post has 80 - 100 on the rolls, but only a dozen that routinely show up for meetings. I believe that the National VFW recognizes this trend in that it just proposed permitting essentially "cold war" vets that served OCONUS to join (but voted it down). What are some of the things posts are doing to make themselves more relevant and welcoming to their communities?

My local VFW post recently shut down due to what they called "non interest" from younger Vets. I tried several times to join up, but since I am a Desert Storm Vet, I got the same attitude from the members there. I even tried to drop off toys for Toys for Tots, and they said they did not participate in the program. This about floored me. How can an organization that contains even a single Marine not participate? I received much the same attitude at my local American Legion which seems more interested in having people deal meth on the property than having new people join up.

If there’s smoking, I can’t enter the building. Cigarette smoke triggers migraines that are brutal. That’s the first issue. I cannot drink alcohol due to my PTSD and heart meds. Dying for a drink is real and not worth my life. I am not eligible to belong to the VFW. The Cold War doesn’t seem to have been a “real war”. The local American Legion is pretty much spot on a very unwelcoming establishment. Smoke, dive bar and no food because they shut down their kitchen. I know nothing about the local DAV. I know where the building is but I’ve never seen anyone there. AmVets seems to be doing well. They just moved into a building all of their own. Again, I don’t know anything about them. The local Marine Corps League is sputtering along. The one great leader we had was unceremoniously voted out by a new member who made promises that didn’t pan out. I haven’t been to a meeting since.
Bottom line: if these organizations want to prosper, they need dynamic leaders and involved members that want to join because of the great things that they accomplish. Absent that, I can’t see wasting my time. I have other ways I can contribute as a Veteran in my local community and pay respect for all veterans regardless of their smoking or drinking credentials.

Allow stateside servicemembers that supported the war to Join. Even though they may not have served over seas during war time, they were an important part of the war effort. The Veterans of Foreign war would not allow a service member that served during Vietnam to join because he did not personally serve over seas, but was stateside support.

I am not a member of either. The atmosphere around the VFW is more of a drinking establishment for Veterans. The American Legion has a bar at the center of their activities but are trying to be more than a bar. I have been to my local Legion Hall to meet with other vets and have been accepted by all that are present at the time. I have been seriously considering joining the Legion but haven't found the motivation yet to do so. They are more involved in my community and respect the female vets, which are big plusses in my book. Who knows, I may one day soon pull the trigger, so to speak.

I’ve been a paying member of several American legions and vfw posts over the years. Never was told I wasn’t old enough. Never was told I wasn’t a “real soldier”. Never was left to feel as if I wasn't welcomed or respected. I can’t make myself regularly participate because most of them are transparently clickish political entities whose top-down principle purpose seems to be a never ending fund raiser trying to get congress to promote ideas which I am disinterested in. I love my fellow veterans and still like to drop by and chat but don’t want to establish a second career as a volunteer. The younger members I have tried to recruit have all simply said something by along the lines of, “no offense but I hated the military and want nothing to do with a group of people who want to relive what I hated.” So maybe the culture of the disposable volunteer service-member, where the military leadership are continually sending them back into the breach, or exhausting their enthusiasm through non value added training and pointless time wasting experiences, all while telling them they volunteered for it, is breaking their desire to associate with anything correlated to the “lifers” they despise, and the ones they tried felt like fake compassion.

I don't drink any type of Acholco...
What else do any Vets Organizations do?
Majority served during War Times & did Not!

Anyone who served in the military can join the American Legion, but you have had to serve in a war like Vietnam to join the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

I belong to the American Legion, but not an active member. I do belong to a few other organizations and participate in several of them. The problem you speak of is not unique to the Legion or VFW. Many organizations especially those military oriented ones have a problem with getting too "old" and not able to fill the membership with young members. My only observation based on my experience is one on one contact with young potential members and trying to get a core group like this (6 or 8) to move forward in leadership roles and perhaps these younger leaders could draw more young individuals to join.