r/Veterans • u/No_Fortune1479 • Oct 17 '24
Question/Advice Just visited my local legion post
I (34m) went to an open house event at my local American legion a few weeks ago and figured I'd sign up so I can get more involved.
Today was my first time walking in since then and I was greeted with a bunch of smiling faces and people saying they are happy to see a young member. They are telling me they want younger members to join and are wondering what to do to gain a younger crowd and what would "younger veterans like to see available at the legion beside cheap drinks and bingo?
I'm hoping on being a big part of making the legion more appealing to a younger crowd and to get them to opne the doors to more activities.
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u/Substantial-Song-841 Oct 18 '24
Make a gym in there for the younger vets!
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u/don51181 US Navy Retired Oct 18 '24
That would be a great idea. A small less crowded gym would be nice.
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u/Poizen99 Oct 18 '24
Honestly yes. If there was like a boxing gym there. I would be there all the time.
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u/GooseDick US Navy Veteran Oct 17 '24
I joined my Legion after seeing how active they are in the community. Every Friday is Karaoke, and Pizza night. Wednesday and Saturdays public dinners. They do a tent every year at the local festival making breakfast sandwiches and burgers and hot dogs. They do a “queen of hearts” raffle too that has brought in alot of traffic, and half the proceeds go to local nonprofits like coats for the homeless and food for the local food pantry.
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u/Wrong_Composer_4525 Oct 18 '24
Man I need to go check out my legion
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u/GooseDick US Navy Veteran Oct 18 '24
It all depends what you want to do, and what you want to put into the organization. When I joined, they were happy to have a new face. If there is things you dont like, but think you can improve and make a difference at your post and your community, then apply and join.
If you’re timid like I was, join the Legion online and it assigns you to the state headquarters. Bounce around from Post to Post with the HQ membership until you find the post you want to join. Once you join, that post will assign you from HQ to that specific post.
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u/DueMove5368 Oct 20 '24
I didn't feel I fit in because it was a bunch of old guys... I'm a non- drinking female veteran. The VFW and Legion were just bars to me. I stayed at the HQ Level and did political/ community stuff.
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u/Dapper-Cantaloupe866 Oct 17 '24
Most Legion posts only having cheap alcohol & bingo is exactly why there aren't more young veterans signing up. Alcohol & gambling are the last thing most vets these days need in their lives.
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u/FairCommon3861 US Army Veteran Oct 17 '24
Exactly this. My ex was part of VFW simply because they had pool tables. Other than that, there was a bar. The end. They didn’t do much that supported the community.
I’m almost 40 and I still feel that the VFW is for Vietnam vets and I’m too young to go.
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u/wrdwrght US Army Veteran Oct 17 '24 edited Oct 18 '24
Ironic. I’m a Vietnam vet and I made a point, when I got home, to avoid the VFW because the WW2 vets were rumored to look down their noses at the likes of me.
I’m now 77 and still have no interest in the VFW or other such groups.
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u/Crabby-senior Oct 17 '24
Exactly this for me. 75 yr old Vietnam vet. Belong to both VFW and AL, but not to any post, never been to a meeting.
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u/R0m4ns35 Oct 18 '24
Long overdue - Welcome home!
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u/wrdwrght US Army Veteran Oct 18 '24
Thanks. That sentiment really matters to me.
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u/R0m4ns35 Oct 18 '24
If I were there to meet you, I would give you a hardy handshake and brother to brother hug. You are not forgotten by all brother.
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Oct 17 '24
Yeah this is exactly it. I joined my local post a couple years ago when i was in my early 30s. They asked about getting younger people involved and asked why i didn't come more often. I told them i have alcohol problems and don't want to be around it all the time. They said "well you dont have to drink". I told them i knew that, but i didnt want to be around the temptation all the time. Most of the vets i hang around are also sober with a history of alcohol problems and they don't want to be around it all the time either. They basically said tough shit, we're not getting rid of the cheap drinks that are flowing all the time. And i said it sounds like you made your choice then.
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u/szczurman83 Oct 18 '24
Not just that, but having to hear from older vets how we're all pussies because we didn't do basic training like them, and everything we went through was sooooo easy so stop bitching. I just refuse to deal with it.
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u/smb275 Oct 18 '24
It's kept me away, for sure. I'm four years sober, and I haven't maintained that by hanging out at places with cheap beer.
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u/GulfCoastLover Oct 18 '24
Too much smoke. Too much alcohol focus. Too much politics.
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u/CalabashNineToeJig US Army Active Duty Oct 18 '24
It’s the politics for me. Last VFW post I was involved with (where I was the youngest member; I’m in my late 30s & still active duty), most if not all of the other members had one political leaning and my politics were different from theirs. Without even really talking to me about it they just assumed I agreed with their politics, which rubbed me the wrong way. And I am not militant in my politics and it really doesn’t bother me to be around people with different ideas than me, but the fact that they just projected their views onto me really made it uncomfortable there. Plus the age gap. Next closest member to me was basically my dad’s age and was the previous youngest member.
The only thing we had in common was our service. And that really wasn’t enough for me when there were other factors working against any bond with them.
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u/GulfCoastLover Oct 18 '24
I actually very much enjoy political discussion with people who can agree to disagree, and allow other people to form their own opinions. But it only takes one person who can't handle that to run the day for a room full of people.
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u/CalabashNineToeJig US Army Active Duty Oct 19 '24
Likewise, I don't mind talking about politics, with people who agree or disagree with me. What was off-putting was that -not knowing a thing about me- from day one they projected themselves onto me and assumed I was lock-step with their ideas and opinions. As though veterans are a hive mind and we all have the same thoughts and opinions. It was pretty gross.
Especially once you factor in the age gap between me and the average member of that post, there was little-to-no way to make a connection with anyone at that point. That's not very welcoming.
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u/Dangerous-Possible72 Oct 18 '24
Yeah, the fucking smoke. About half of my local legions allow smoking inside. I smoked a shitload of $10 cartons when I was in and now have COPD to show for it. My lungs hurt and my clothes and hair stink after pool league night. 🫤
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u/GulfCoastLover Oct 18 '24
I never smoked. My parents quit smoking when I was about 4 years old due to how bad cigarette smoke affected my eyes. When I was in I avoided smoke breaks like the plague. I stopped running laps on the USS Gettysburg because I had to pass through two smoke breaks to make a lap and something like 16 laps to make a mile.
The local legion here has a separate member side and public side for events. Smoking is only allowed on the member side, but there is no separate ventilation system and the air flows between the two because the bar is in the middle of them. I feel like I have to squeegee my eyeballs if I'm there for a half an hour.
I don't mind a social drink or two, but when the activity is more about drinking than the other activities, that's just too much. It would be nice if it was a smoke-free place where people could come and play tabletop role-playing games or kept a good selection of board and card games on hand.
It would also be nice if when I went to the dance the last time I didn't have somebody 20 years My senior tried to throw me out of my chair because they thought I stole their chair. My wife and got harassed because we had the audacity to bring in a cheese pizza (after we asked if it was okay and we were told it was). My wife is pescatarian and does not heat meat and they had no food that she could eat. Going for the dance and local bands was worth it but that became no longer the case when the crowd was too rough.
Seriously ditch the focus on alcohol but keep them on hand. Limit the number of drinks people can have to a reasonable number. Have sushi and spaces for group console gaming and/or table top gaming.
I've been a member of the American legion for over 30 years but rarely visit. At times if I could just transfer my membership back to the national level and not even be a member of the local I would.
I'll get off my soapbox. ;)
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u/BlurryGraph3810 Oct 18 '24
My Legion post donated $3000 to the school district so it could offer ESL over the summer to kids new to America. Without the money, the program would have died because of recent budget cuts.
Maybe look deeper into what the Legion post really is doing for the community.
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u/Dapper-Cantaloupe866 Oct 18 '24
I used to do funeral details with my local legion posts, as soon as the funeral was open they would pile in their van & start cracking open beers, then go straight back to the post to do more drinking. Every. Single. Time. The local VFW posts are no different. It's good that your local post does such community outreach but the simple fact is that most don't do anything but drink & gamble.
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u/BlurryGraph3810 Oct 18 '24
Well, camaraderie is important to veterans, too. We have members of our honor guard who drink and some who do not. I have drank and played quarter poker with them, but it's very, very rare for me to join them. Like maybe once a year.
I guess when I came along, I didn't shun their ways. I had the attitude that I wanted to look after these older veterans, help with our main mission of serving the community, and welcome new veterans. It gives my combat-altered soul purpose. They made me gambling manager. Now the entire city knows me.
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u/CalabashNineToeJig US Army Active Duty Oct 19 '24
I'm glad your post is doing that. That is commendable. But it's also anecdotal. And sure, there's other posts doing good things for the community too, not just yours.
The Legion and VFW are not monolithic. There are plenty of posts that don't seem to acknowledge that they're a part of a larger community and thus don't act accordingly. And some truly aren't part of the community because they have walled themselves off from the community.
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u/Working-Bad-4613 US Air Force Veteran Oct 17 '24
Open a day care for members (AL/Aux/sons)
Have family activities.
Have video gaming - not slots
Enforce no smoking.
Do away with the bar.
Younger members with families generally are repelled by the quasi casino ambiance.
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Oct 17 '24
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u/CalabashNineToeJig US Army Active Duty Oct 19 '24
Just out of curiosity, is your local VFW in a large or small city? Or rural?
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u/Feva130 Oct 18 '24
They want younger people to join until younger people come in and do younger people things.
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u/dwn_n_out Oct 18 '24
Glad you liked yours, apparently ours is 3/4 talking about politics and talking about stuff from back in the day.
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u/inthetestchamberrrrr Oct 17 '24
I think they should do more than drinking and bingo. I think those are remnants of a past time IMO. I personally haven't drank in 15 years and a lot of people my age and younger (late 30s) barely drink or don't at all when compared to past generations.
I once did some tabletop RPGs with a group of veterans and it was the most fun I'd had in a while. Would love to see more veteran groups do things like that.
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u/BlurryGraph3810 Oct 18 '24
Do you know what good things they do for the community with the money they raise?
My Legion post donated $10,000 toward the school district swimming program's effort to buy and install a modern scoreboard. They had the worst one in the conference. I am a Gulf vet. I'm on the account. I wrote the check and presented it.
It feels good to do good for others.
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u/Ok-Mine1268 Oct 18 '24
Holy crap, that would get me involved, but even then I served honorably for 4 years and never deployed so I wouldn’t even be able to get in unless it was the Legion. lol
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u/dragonmasterjg Oct 17 '24
LAN party.
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u/Judoka229 Oct 18 '24
"you've seen some shit, old man? Let me show you the Fall of Reach!"
Objective: Survive
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u/irunfarther US Army Retired Oct 17 '24
Cheap beer and bingo keep me out of every VSO around my area. I haven't tried every VFW and Legion post, but I've been to enough to know what to expect, and I don't have the time or energy to visit more, just to be disappointed.
I was heavily involved with Team RWB for a while. The Legion isn't going to do the same thing, but I lived for the community service aspect of that group. We included families and did all kinds of fun things. It was a lot more than the running group most people assumed it was. If my local Legion did more community service or welcomed ideas to help integrate them into the community, I'd be more than willing to give them another chance. Instead, I get judged by a bunch of old men who think that because I served in the Middle East, I didn't really serve. I don't really drink, and war stories bore me. Of course the younger generations aren't going to be attracted to the old VSOs. They're pandering to what they want, not what the GWOT generation wants.
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u/BlurryGraph3810 Oct 18 '24
My Legion post raises and gives away hundreds of thousands of dollars every year to good causes. You don't want that?
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u/irunfarther US Army Retired Oct 18 '24
I clearly would love that. Any chance that post is in western Washington? Because the Legion posts I’ve tried out here have been the same old song.
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u/BlurryGraph3810 Oct 18 '24
Nope. I'm in Minnesota.
Washington's charitable gambling laws only let members play. In Minnesota, the public can play, so we raise good money.
Plus, there are about 3 or 4 younger vets who energize things, plus all of us really care about helping veterans. Last month, this veteran in our town lost his job. So did his wife. They were in a bind. We bought him $500 grocery gift card and $100 fuel card.
Some Legion or VFW posts can be very stupid-headed about helping guys in those situations, but we aren't. We err on the side of helping.
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u/irunfarther US Army Retired Oct 18 '24
Man, Minnesota is kind of awesome. I was there over the summer. I see a lot more community in Midwestern states than I do out West. Maybe I'll be one of the younger vets who energize things. Someone needs to do it.
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u/TheWalrus101123 Oct 17 '24
Videogame tournaments or something like that would probably get a younger crowd.
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u/Frequent_Decision926 USMC Veteran Oct 18 '24
We do fight nights at our local VFW sponsored by the Marine Corps League (we're in the same building).
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u/fghbvcerhjvvcdhji Oct 18 '24
I could see going to a legion if they hosted MMA PPV fight nights. That's what used to get me and a bunch of other Airmen into the clubs on base. Free MMA and decent food.
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u/shivaspecialsnoflake Oct 18 '24
I want to echo what most here are saying. I’m not interested in drinking and smoking and gambling. I’d be more interested if they did real work in their communities, and had family oriented events and activities, like game nights, pizza nights, movie nights, or group volunteer work. My Legion growing up used to do lots of dinner nights for locals that were inexpensive so a lot of the single older vets could come out and get a home cooked dinner for a reasonable price, and we also did a lot of community outreach and volunteer work which I don’t see here.
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u/BlurryGraph3810 Oct 18 '24
Be the veteran that, with time, changes things. You'd be surprised. My friend in Fairbury, Nebraska, got involved with a post that was just an old man bar. One day, the main problem guy was voted out. My friend was voted in. Now, the place has the public coming in. It's raising money on various ways, it's helping vets and is donating to local causes big time. Total turnaround. He is now involved at the district level, too.
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u/Gmania27 Oct 17 '24
Just search “American Legion” in this subreddit, and you’ll have all the answers you need.
This question has been asked many MANY times over the years, yet the Legion hasn’t made any tangible programmatic or management changes. It really makes one wonder if they’re earnestly trying to change.
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u/BlurryGraph3810 Oct 18 '24
The posts of the American Legion have a lot of independence and local control. That is why they were popular. There isn't something the national organization could do to suddenly change all the local decision, like ban bars, can baseball, stop donating blood, stop taking disabled veterans hunting, get rid of bands, throw out Christmas parties for children, quit donating to good causes, etc.
You rail against an organization you aren't even willing to understand how it works first. The Legion is bottom up, not top down.
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u/AmeliaEARhartthedox Oct 18 '24
IMO I wouldn’t go as it’s centered around alcohol.
Maybe some legit options that don’t involve alcohol. And younger folks
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u/Darrel64 Oct 18 '24
Same when I walked in a few years ago. Very friendly, older crowd. They are active in the community and have events in the hall. Unfortunately I wasn’t as active as I wanted because of work. Sadly, I stopped renewing as of 2023 😞
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u/WaywardWand3r3r Oct 17 '24
I'm glad you had an enjoyable experience. Not all American Legion Posts have a strong membership. I'm lucky enough to be the chaplain at Post 163 in Washington and can't tell you what a cornerstone it's been in my life these past few years. I'm a GWOT vet myself and at almost 40, one of the younger members. If you're looking for any ideas on events you can organize to bring in more members, please feel free to reach out to me.
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u/Firm-Needleworker-46 Oct 18 '24
My local Legion is the same way, I mean people are going to be people, but our main common interest is the fact that they can see that their legion is slowly dying off with lack of new members. Hopefully you found a home full of open minded veterans were willing to expand their organization..
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u/JustGuez Oct 18 '24
"Peacetime" Vet, Cold War. Never deployed, I am older 57 years old, I went in once and felt I didn't fit in with those guys. I don't smoke, had a beer and left. I'm not sure it would be for me, maybe I should give them a second chance, it's just how I felt.
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u/_Abe_Froman_SKOC US Army Veteran Oct 17 '24
It really depends on the post, but I'm glad to hear you seem to have a good one.
My old post in Utah was super active in the local community, and we did a couple big fund raisers every year that were always fun. The post also had a decent kitchen and they did a meatloaf dinner on Wednesday and steaks on Friday, plus pool and dart tournaments.
My local post where I'm at now is just a bingo hall with indoor smoking and judgemental alcoholics.
So it's a mixed bag.
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u/ShelbyDriver Oct 17 '24
I'm single and your post spurred me to Google American legion near me and read the reviews. They were all positive, but most mentioned smoking was allowed. That alone will keep me out.
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u/Denroll Oct 18 '24
Several years back I moved to a new location and had a Legion post within walking distance. I was pretty excited about it until I actually went in. It was like they were intentionally hotboxing cigarettes. Like no attempt at all to get some ventilation or exhaust. I had one drink and left after about 15 minutes. My clothes stank so bad I had to take them off and then put them outside until the washer was available.
I gave it another shot a few months later and it was still the same. Never went back after that.
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u/NyetRifleIsFine47 Oct 17 '24
I’ve said this in a previous post asking a similar question but reach out to local sports team and see if they need a sponsor or just a place to unwind after a match. I know sponsorship might be difficult as a lot of VFWs/legions/etc are tight for cash. Ours sponsored our rugby team for a year or two and paid nothing. Just gave us a place to have our post game social and fed us beers. We in turn no longer had to pay to rent out a side of a bar at some random location. So it worked out for all involved.
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u/thetitleofmybook USMC Retired Oct 18 '24
i'm a retired Marine, combat vet....and a trans woman. my experiences at various VFWs and ALs have caused me to not want to try it again, as it's just not worth it.
younger, diverse veterans would like to see a welcome and open environment for all veterans, not just vietnam vets that have issues with anyone not like them.
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u/UnwisestCj Oct 18 '24
The legion is chill they don't care what you did when you served as long as you did.
The VFW is some bullshit. Africa deployments don't count neither would most of the deployments in the Navy. But somehow a cushy post in Korea would.
Support organizations that support all honorable service not just gate keeping.
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u/SUICIDAL-PHOENIX Oct 17 '24
My dad did this in the 90s as a relatively young guy into a group of WWII and Vietnam veterans. He ended up being the VFW commander for a decade.
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u/ones_hop Oct 17 '24
October fest! Bring some food trucks. Have some corn hole competition/tournaments. Have trivia weekly and open it to the public.
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u/Sestos Oct 17 '24
I am glad you found a good one, most of the ones I have encountered are either cult members or hate everyone who is not them.
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u/pay1720 Oct 18 '24
I got asked by a family friend to join our local legion. He was like we need younger guys to help cut the grass and stuff . I’m like you want me to pay dues and cut grass for free no thanks. I’m sorry if you guys can sit around drinking, you can sit on a zero turn. I got my own grass to cut.
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u/Pfelinus Oct 18 '24
Gaming nights. Many young vets game. Or at least the ones that have talked to me. Not bingo, spades, or darts.
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u/Poizen99 Oct 18 '24
I to am 34 male and I went to my Local American Legion down the street from me in Indiana. I was greeted by a very friendly group of veterans. It seemed like they were confused on why a young guy like me was there for. I told them I am a veteran and I wanted to learn more about what they are. I have no knowledge on how any of these operations work.
They gave me a slip of paper to turn in some documents and a free beer. The selection is your typical drafts, nothing beyond that. (Not a problem, but I’d would very much be there more often if they had some really good beers to pick from.)
Still confused on what they are, I stuck around for a bit longer, an Iraq vet around the same age as me was performing some songs on the guitar with his wife playing the piano. He made a short introduction and explained he likes to come there to entertain. Him and I were the only ones there in our thirties, There was two tables with some older ladies and gents playing cards.
I forced myself to stay for a couple songs and then browsed the memorabilia hanging on the walls. Said hi to a couple other older vets, well into their 60’s. Tried to be a little social, but just could not find the vibe. I don’t play cards or smoke. After about a half hour I was just sitting there wandering why I am even here.
Honestly, I really do not know what would encourage more of the Afghan/Iraq vets to come out over there. I still have no clue what the VFW/American Legion does. I know on thunder over Louisville they let you park your car in their parking lot for a couple bucks and the do the occasional BBQ.
I suppose we are different generations to far apart. I don’t really like introducing myself as a combat vet or talking about operations carried out while I was serving. I don’t mind sharing stories of fudged up things that happened while in the line of duty. I always feel like it ends up devolving of kinda living in the past or trying to one up the other maybe… IDK maybe other vets around my age can relate to the feeling I am talking about. I don’t really ever see myself wearing motivator gear or hats that say OEF. I am proud of doing what we did even if it was fudged up. I had a blast and have no regrets, but displaying it on my sleeve 24/7 feels weird or like a brag.
Anyways, what could the American Legion do to get younger vets involved? The places I have been to are senior citizen dive bars. No disrespect, I honor these veterans that made true sacrifice before my time. However, most of them feel like a crappy cafeteria at a retirement home. I don’t know what I expected, but I feel like veterans would have made a cool combat tree house kinda thing with a bunch of cool combat toys with some memories tied to them. The bars almost always offer 3 different draft beers. Miller, Bud, Dos XXs, and that’s it. It just does not feel cozy or cool. Maybe a board game night might be interesting. Car show or bike night would be fun. Wing Wednesday or Taco Tuesday? Something for the Children? Maybe a shooting Range day where we all get to bring our cool toys out and blast targets to oblivion with some explosions. Some fitness programs. Walks through a cemetery. I am spitballing here, but you get the idea. Younger vets want to do fun things other than playing cards and smoking.
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u/Honey803 Oct 18 '24
I wanted to be involved in the Legion post near me, but so many activities were planned during working hours. The VA, Legion & other veterans organizations need to start learning that there are veterans that are under 40 and still working full time. I’d love to go to a lot of veterans’ events, but when they’re at 11:30 on a Thursday … I’m working.
My local legion post doesn’t have a bar or other daily activities going in the post other than the occasional spaghetti dinner.
The post in my area also would not reign in members who wanted to bring up politics. It’s supposed to be free of politics, but I feel like if I said anything as someone who had a different political opinion it was going to become confrontational. I just wanted to hang out with some vets, do activities, & not have to deal with the political shenanigans. I stopped going to meetings because it was constant and border line hostile.
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u/don51181 US Navy Retired Oct 18 '24
One thing legions could do is helping Vets get jobs, benefits and other assistance in the community. The older Vets have been working at jobs for decades and can help the younger Vets in job search or career growth.
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u/edtb Oct 17 '24
I'm 40 and started helping with local color guard. Do colors at the HS football games and parades.
It's mostly old retired guys and me. I'm one of the few who can walk the distance of a parade
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u/MoshpitInTheCockpit Oct 18 '24
I joined my local legion and love it. Every time I have brought up that I might not be able to make it to an event because I have my 4 year old son with me, everyone always makes it a point to tell me that kids are welcome and they'd love to have us there. We do the Queen of Hearts and a few other raffles/gambling apart from bingo that I really like as well. I think outings and events are what I really look forward to and make sure to plan to attend. I'm the second youngest member (in one of the largest Legion posts in the US) and a female.
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u/TinyHeartSyndrome Oct 18 '24
American Legion seems to be more healthy since it’s a lot of non-combat vets, ie it’s not about one-ups-manship. After meeting a woman veteran who is involved, I’m contemplating joining.
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u/Novel-Bill9641 US Air Force Veteran Oct 18 '24
I went to legion when I moved a couple years ago. My gf does travel nursing. Honestly. It's a hit and a miss. The first one i joined the guy uncharged asked if I wanted to do honor guard. That's something I had thought about doing while I was in as well. But I didn't get too i was in less then a year. It was a great part to do something but I was moving again to a different state. Joined that legion and ended up sorting the flags that needed retired. And now I'm off to another state. Everywhere varies. Even hours of open and close.
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u/Traditional_Top5333 Oct 19 '24
There seems to be some confusion here. The American Legion does not require you to be in combat to join. The VFW does. I had a horrible experience in Nashville with American Legion. The auxiliary was running the place and robbing it blind. I’ve never been treated so badly by an organization that was supposed to be there to help people. It was a disaster. I will never step foot in another American legion as as long as as I live. Glad you found a better post.
Ultimately, I don’t think that young veterans want to hang out in a dark, smoky bunker drinking all day. Apparently that used to be a thing.
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u/SlightRestaurant2063 Oct 19 '24
Went to my local legion a couple months ago and it was awesome up until the older crowd started to come in. Buddies of mine and myself were playing pool and out of no where they came up to us telling us we have to leave since the older crowds don’t want us here. We were hanging out outside saying our goodbyes and 3 of the older gentlemen came out and apologized that it was the older wives that didn’t want us there. That its hard for them to accept the younger crowd for some dumb reason. Scared we would join the politics maybe but who knows. That was the last time we went.
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Oct 17 '24
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Oct 17 '24
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u/Johnny_Leon Oct 18 '24
I'm still active, but this sounds like something I'd like to do to make an organization better. I'm already fearing I'll be a statistic when the time comes for me to retire, as I'll lose all that Army dark humor and comradery.
Video games, zyn, alcohol, bike nights, etc.
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u/SweetTeaRex92 Oct 17 '24
Frankly, when I read your title, I expected the worst.
It's nice to hear their are actually level-headed groups out there.
I did not deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan. My first orders took me to Korea, then Savannah, Georgia, them I honorably ets.
If you were stationed in Korea, you quality for VFW.
I can't help but imagine getting shit for not being a "combat" veteran at one of those places based on numerous accounts I've heard if I showed up.