Is there a disconnect between the Korean & Vietnam Veterans & the Gulf/OIF/OEF Veterans?

SSG Gerald King - So true brother, so true indeed!!!

Very true! And the thing that bothered me as much as any was having to get real news through back channels because of the way the military media was almost as slanted and definitely censored as mainstrea media! The misrepresentation of what actually was going on was a real joke (sic)...

SGT Dean Syron - Amen to that Brother!!!!!

Every point hits right on the nose, Sgt Duchesneau!! And the VSO's were a disgrace back then. In the early 1970's, six of us went together to join a VFW post. We had petitions filled out, copies of DD-214's and cash in hand. A guy at the post we gave the stuff to looked at us, took our paperwork, tore it in half, threw our money back at us and told us to get the f--k out. They only allowed real veterans in. Over the years, I told that story to at least 20 VFW members who asked me why I didn't belong. The response was usually some variation of "well, you have to understand the times, or differences, or environment, or members, etc. Even worse were those who stated that America never declared war on North Vietnam so we weren't really war veterans. We understood we were veterans who had participated in military actions on foreign soil, and had been designated as such by a Congress which granted them their organizational Charter. I joined the VFW in March this year. Someone finally said "I wasn't there, but I apologize for the way you and your friends were treated by the VFW. Our post would be honored to have you as a member." An apology over rationalizing why it was okay "back then".

CPT Jack Durish This is exactly how my father feels as a Korean Veteran. He was ashamed with the way Vietnam Veterans were treated and I watched him sit in anger every night watching the news with Walter Cronkite and became bitter with the people of our country during that time.

ROK being my first assignment (1994) and having an interest in military history, I was disappointed in 2003, when the US Army was planning a long overdue remembrance of Korea using the 50th anniversary as a springboard, when it was downplayed because of negotiations going on in the peninsula that year.

Korean Veterans are considered the forgotten but actually they were The Chosen Few! They would in China if China hadn't crossed over the Borders!!! Our Veterans brought back our frozen dead stacked like cord wood and our equipment Too in an Orderly Withdrawal. Semper FI Doc Bradshaw

The problem isn't that we're not involved, it's that we see these older organizations as stagnant. There are a ton of veterans involved with volunteer organizations like Team Rubicon and other community organizers. But TR has mastered social media marketing, the VFW for the most part hasn't. Since I lsat wrote this response, our local VFW chapter has new leadership and has experienced a resurgence in the social media area. They're getting better about it, but understanding how to connect and what to connect with the new generation is vitally important to their survival

I've been a member of the AL for 25 years - since Basic. I've made some good friends. This is how VSO hierarchy was explained to me. It used to be that a guy joined because his day/grandfather was a member. In my case, both my dad & grandfather were members of various VSOs. Many years ago WW2 vets controlled the AL (& probably other VSOs) when Korea/Vietnam vets returned from duty. WW2 guys ran things the way they wanted to & didn't want any say from the younger crowd. Eventually, Korea/Vietnam vets outnumbered the WW2 guys. Now vets are younger than me & they are choosing not to join Amvets/AL/VFW but instead an organization that means something to them. VSOs are smart - but slow to change. They need to cater to younger vets if they are going to survive my lifetime.

The only reason I joined a veterans service organization was that I was asked by the civilian medical group I was in (many years after VN), to help in community outreach by joining a local VSO. The VFW was just down the road about 7 miles, so I did that ... much to my surprise, I was welcomed heartily. Previous encounters with VFW members had not been conducive. Since then I have become deeply engaged in Post, District, and State activities. I am also a charter member of a VVA chapter started in my current local area. Here is what I have seen over the last twenty odd years. There is always a "disconnect" between area and era service in the military organizations. However, a lot of that I believe is the somewhat common feeling of combat veterans who feel/say/believe that what the others lived through was different from the others. Wellllll, yes and no. The conflicts were in different environments all over the world. But war, combat, is still pretty much the same. You must be prepared to kill others who are prepared to kill you. That is as old as humanity has existed, unfortunately. What I have seen in the past few years has given me positive feelings that the separation some feel from others is eventually overcome by the similarities of combat veterans. We fought, we died, we lived, some were permanently damaged, physically and mentally. Only in the past ten years or so have I begun to understand that the primary advantage of serving in any veterans' organization is to assure that our fellow veterans of all kinds are respected and cared for by our nation. I now have many friends in the VFW now who are Desert Storm, Iraq, Afghanistan, Granada, Somalia, etc. I have friends in the VVA-supported Veterans of Modern Warfare. One of the most forward-looking Posts in the VFW is VFW Post #1 in Denver- they set all of the old fogeys in the VFW on their ear, and they caught of flak in the beginning. However, they are now one of the fastest growing Posts in the nation. They embrace ALL of the different era veterans as THEIRS to work with and take care of. And yes, they really do know how to use social media. Some of the older Vietnam vets started looking around and discovered that THEY were the old guys now and it scared some of them. Good thing- some actually started looking for better ways to recruit the younger vets. AND, recruiting the younger vets is hard, because many are still trying to raise families and find jobs they pay enough to make a living. So, again, yes and no, there are differences, but there are far more similarities among our combat veterans that eventually can bring them back together, no matter what era, no matter what area of the world they have fought in. From an old "Dixie cup" hospital corpsman to all my Marine, Navy, Air Force, Army, and Coast Guard brothers and sisters, "Semper Fi"!

When I came back home I was approached by a friend that was in the local VFW. I tried it for the first year and everything went really well so I paid my dues to become a life member. Now the post after 10 years has really started a decrease in attendance. I'm also a member of my local American Legion, DAV but I still see the same problem, our younger generation is not interested in any type membership to an organization. The old stigma is where the old men use to sit around and do nothing but drink. We certainly have a disconnect with all our generations.