SPC Mike McConaughy 8821173 <div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>I am a Commander with the American Legion in Arkansas. I have been put on a committee to find what it would take to get younger vets (50 and younger) to join the American Legion. I would like some feedback on this. 2024-07-21T17:43:45-04:00 SPC Mike McConaughy 8821173

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>I am a Commander with the American Legion in Arkansas. I have been put on a committee to find what it would take to get younger vets (50 and younger) to join the American Legion. I would like some feedback on this.

2024-07-21T17:43:45-04:00 2024-07-21T17:43:45-04:00 SP5 Dennis Loberger 8821510

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>I&#39;m way past that point. I joined at 59. I was invited to a meeting of our Post by a friend. I never felt so comfortable. I stayed and am currently Finance Officer of our Post. Have served as Post Commander and County Commander. Get them to come, make them feel welcome and give them purpose and they will stay

2024-07-21T22:07:40-04:00 2024-07-21T22:07:40-04:00 MSG Private RallyPoint Member 8821607

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>You need a way to reach them and convince the younger Vets why they should. What that is, it&#39;s going to be different between Vets. I joined the VFW, am a Lifetime member and I haven&#39;t been to a meeting in years. Turns out the Post Commander got outted for SV. I stopped going. Between this possibility and lack of incentives listed.... the youngers just aren&#39;t interested

2024-07-22T01:11:42-04:00 2024-07-22T01:11:42-04:00 SGT Private RallyPoint Member 8822019

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Ask yourself these questions.<br /><br />1. What do we have to offer thern other than a bar to get drunk at. <br /><br />2. What are the interests of those Veterans and spouses you want to recruit. <br /><br />3. Are you welcoming to all Veterans or just white straight males.<br /><br />4. Does your Post treat the wives as nothing more than unpaid help .<br /><br />5. Have you taken the time to audit your Post, its action,its membership and how open it is to other activities other than the consumption of Alcohol.<br /><br />6. An open critical analysis of your Post&#39;s actions,behavior and activities would be your first step.

2024-07-22T12:04:49-04:00 2024-07-22T12:04:49-04:00 SGM Private RallyPoint Member 8822491

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Honestly? Being retired and having time for it. <br />Balancing Active Duty or a fulltime job and a family doesn&#39;t leave a whole lot of time left over.<br />It&#39;s the reason why I always assumed most of the crowd at Legion and VFW posts were of retirement age or at least old enough for the kids to have moved out on their own.

2024-07-22T20:43:22-04:00 2024-07-22T20:43:22-04:00 SGT Lorenzo Nieto 8822767

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Nothing came home from viet nam got kicked to the curb because the legion did not recognize the viet nam war.

2024-07-23T06:15:25-04:00 2024-07-23T06:15:25-04:00 Lt Col Scott Shuttleworth 8822917

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Nothing with our local chapter...went a couple of times to check it out and it was nothing but boozed up chain smoking filled room and I was there to be seen and not heard. So I never went back. Turn it into something meaningful with a real purpose other than drinking and bingo. Good men and solid brothers but it really needs a huge makeover.

2024-07-23T08:51:59-04:00 2024-07-23T08:51:59-04:00 SSG Carlos Madden 8823240

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>There&#39;s been a few similar questions like this posted over the years on RallyPoint and they all have a similar theme in the replies: younger veterans don&#39;t feel welcome at VFW&#39;s and Legions. It&#39;s viewed as the place where older male veterans drink beer away from their families and complain about politics and younger veterans. They don&#39;t feel welcome because of how they&#39;ve been treated by the older folks, how their views/values don&#39;t align with the existing members, the services and mission of the legion&#39;s don&#39;t align with what younger veterans want, etc. Additionally people under 50 have a ton of stuff going on in their lives already - kids, family, careers, personal health - and to get them to take on yet another obligation will take some serious convincing. To get me to join a Legion, they would need a serious rebrand from top to bottom.

2024-07-23T15:45:21-04:00 2024-07-23T15:45:21-04:00 Cpl Vic Burk 8823247

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>When I was growing up as a teenager during the winter when we couldn&#39;t do roofing I delivered newspapers to both the American Legion and VFW. I walked into a massive cloud of smoke and the smell of beer. That set the tone why I never bothered to join either. I never once saw anything in the paper that said they accomplished anything. Who wants to be part of an organization that has nothing better to do that sit around, smoke, drink and complain? Not me. I have better things to do with my time.

2024-07-23T15:51:12-04:00 2024-07-23T15:51:12-04:00 LCDR Anthony Craft 8825928

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>For younger vets, it might help to focus on what they&#39;re interested in. Maybe offer events or benefits that resonate with them, like career networking, community service projects, or social gatherings. Highlighting how the Legion supports their interests and provides real value could make it more appealing.

2024-07-26T13:27:12-04:00 2024-07-26T13:27:12-04:00 CW4 Ray Davis 8831297

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>already a lifetime member

2024-08-01T14:47:10-04:00 2024-08-01T14:47:10-04:00 SSG Raul Alaniz 8831749

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>I&#39;m older than 50, and I must say that when I joined the American Legion in my area, I didn&#39;t feel &quot;Welcomed&quot; there, all the ppl there had their own clicks, thou I tried, but I never went back

2024-08-01T22:29:20-04:00 2024-08-01T22:29:20-04:00 TSgt Michael Diersen 8832405

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>I’m a member belonging thru a Post in Texas but now retired in Arkansas. This anonymous Texas Post will dry up and close because the most senior members there do not want change, will not listen to ideas for change and are content on the way things are. <br /><br />With that in mind I’ve been to quite a few posts like in Granbury, TX, Tyler, TX Collinsville, IL really have things going strong and understand the role of the Legion. I’ve yet to change to a post here in Arkansas so I cannot speak to that yet.<br />I truly believe that going out to visit the more successful Posts on fact finding tours to find out what they do right and borrow those ideas.

2024-08-02T16:45:46-04:00 2024-08-02T16:45:46-04:00 CSM Thomas McGarry 8833084

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>I think one thing younger veterans need to realize is that The American Legion is the largest veterans organization in the Country though our numbers are slipping. When the Legion puts their clout behind an issue that affects veteran, Congress and even State legislatures need to take notice. We&#39;re only as strong as the numbers we can claim to represent. Admittedly there is certainly room for improvement and change but when I hear a fellow veteran complain about an issue that affects all veterans they need to understand that legislators really only listen when you can show them how many potential voters are affected.

2024-08-03T11:30:42-04:00 2024-08-03T11:30:42-04:00 SPC Matt Ovaska 8833389

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Younger vets. don&#39;t understand. There&#39;s nothing to talk about. The VFW and legion will one day close when the last vet dies. No big deal.

2024-08-03T20:00:59-04:00 2024-08-03T20:00:59-04:00 SrA Cecelia Eareckson 8834163

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Mid-Michigan here. VSO&#39;s are generally unfriendly to women. There is an all women AL post nearby, but when .I enquired, about joining, it was cut off without any discussion. I am eligible, but will never join. I am not your target age, but still, stiff-arming anyone interested without even trying to determine elgibility is nuts. <br />When I was in outside sales, we had quotas. Maybe you need to impose recruiting goals on posts, or shut them down.

2024-08-04T19:16:16-04:00 2024-08-04T19:16:16-04:00 SGT Dave Unangst 8834401

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>I had joined at the state level after my discharge but didn&#39;t visit any local posts for some of the same reasons that recur in these posts. being young I was working full time and trying to start a family. i wasn&#39;t interested in the private club scene at that time. I did transfer to a local post after my kids got older and I did frequent the list a time or two but I was treated as an outsider. I didn&#39;t fit in with the crowds at the bar. The few things that the post did do during the year didn&#39;t always fit in with my work schedule yet. I still have trouble fitting in some of the opportunities that they offer that need help. <br />Honor guard, outreach, mentoring. It is very difficult for younger folks to step up into some of those roles. Having some knowledge of how the operation of those posts go, elections of positions etc it is hard to get younger folks involved. The local fire company I run with has the same challenge. The older generations are very resistant to change and by the time change happens it could be too late to survive. I do feel that many of the older folks in charge have been out of the loop to long to make any significant changes needed for the younger generation. it is more that just few hours here and there to do paperwork make phone calls etc for the post. I did just complete my PUFL so that&#39;s one less yearly visit to the local post but as a vet from the late 80&#39;s I honestly do not share any experiences with the generation prior to my service and I definitely don&#39;t have any of the combat experience of the last 30 years to relate to the younger guys

2024-08-04T23:36:30-04:00 2024-08-04T23:36:30-04:00 MSgt Dale Johnson 8834726

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>There are many like me that even thought I served 24 years I never was in a Combat Zone, I served in SE Asia but i Thailand. Keeping F-4s in the air 24/7 for ground support working 12 hours shifts for months and sometimes 24 hours straight doesn&#39;t mean anything to Combat Vets, but if you were in country as a Cook or Typist in HQ even though you never saw a hostile act that was good enough.<br /><br />As far as I am concerned they can KMA.<br /><br />Actually I must apologize, my post is actually aimed to the VFW, I have not been to any other organization.

2024-08-05T09:30:47-04:00 2024-08-05T09:30:47-04:00 MSG Gerry Poe 8835044

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Less drama within the organization and for the old guys and gals to be more diverse in ways of getting younger veterans and service member to join, in my opinion. I am a member at my American Legion and its always the same old stuff. A lot of griping at the officers and not a lot of volunteering. We do have some middle-aged members, but most aren&#39;t active enough to make a difference. My military motorcycle club (MC) clubhouses out of our Post and we do a lot at the Legion.

2024-08-05T16:42:34-04:00 2024-08-05T16:42:34-04:00 SN Shirley Symon 8836638

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>As a Female veteran (I am 56) who was not eligible to join due to time in service and a non combat role until Sept 2019 when ALL veterans were allowed to join I found my veteran community elsewhere. I do belong to the American Legion, however it is a new post chartered Nov 2022. We do not have our own building so we do not have a bar. Our standing rules include the ability to change meeting times to what fits our post. The biggest issue is many veterans still have jobs and families and don&#39;t spend all their free time drinking/smoking at the Legion post. Not to mention the &quot;We&#39;ve always done it this way&quot; mentality. Many posts don&#39;t want new ideas just new bodies.

2024-08-07T13:05:12-04:00 2024-08-07T13:05:12-04:00 SN Shirley Symon 8836641

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Take away the ability to join the American Legion without specifically joining a post. Post 225 (ghost post) allows you to pay dues and get all the benefits without having to support a post. Make attending as least TWO meetings a year a requirement for membership.

2024-08-07T13:10:52-04:00 2024-08-07T13:10:52-04:00 CW3 James Kay 8848812

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>I’m a life member and I don’t go in anymore, I’ve been to legions all over the USA and the common thread is old people and cliques drinking for cheap and complaining, the older vet needs a place but the only young people I ever see never served a day, pull tabs and fish fries

2024-08-21T18:40:29-04:00 2024-08-21T18:40:29-04:00 SSG Private RallyPoint Member 8849042

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>I find these places to be sexist, racist and conflict specifically bigoted. <br />This feels li6and old white men&#39;s club.<br />I have never felt welcomed there. Even when I was still on active duty. As well as when I was there working for the American Red Cross conducting a blood drive. The cigarette smoke/smoking, the bar and the old white guys using their women folk to serve food.<br />They told me that I can join the auxiliary and laughing....Yeah....NO!!!

2024-08-21T22:59:12-04:00 2024-08-21T22:59:12-04:00 SSG Private RallyPoint Member 8849050

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>I would like for to tell us what you have ever done to affect any change or improvements? How did the organization&#39;s mission degenerate to it&#39;s the current state? How do you re-emphasize and communicate your mission to new generations of Veterans?

2024-08-21T23:13:36-04:00 2024-08-21T23:13:36-04:00 SPC Blaine Clark 8849178

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>I checked it out a couple times and all it is. is a bunch of older vets, smoking and drinking and trying to intimidate younger vet or try to Intimidate one of them. not a place I want to be. I’d rather go hang out with Veterans who understand my experience. The VFW is out of touch, and it become a place of lost souls that are angry with the path they took. Not interested in ever stepping a foot in that place, nor are any of the vets my age!!!

2024-08-22T01:13:07-04:00 2024-08-22T01:13:07-04:00 PO2 Chris Guinn 8849514

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Free or discounted based on income membership fees.

2024-08-22T10:34:58-04:00 2024-08-22T10:34:58-04:00 SMSgt Walter Huston 8849674

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>I know absolutely nothing about the American Legion, so I have no basis for choosing to join.

2024-08-22T13:30:27-04:00 2024-08-22T13:30:27-04:00 SGT Leon Mabe 8855710

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>AM 71 yo it didn&#39;t feel right then and after all this time still living the same way and unless things change that&#39;s just the way it is, from what I&#39;ve seen unless you have combat on record none want you, so I guess most don&#39;t qualify, done.

2024-08-28T21:37:41-04:00 2024-08-28T21:37:41-04:00 SGT Leon Mabe 8855724

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Didn&#39;t qualify then and and too damned old now to give a shit now.

2024-08-28T21:49:12-04:00 2024-08-28T21:49:12-04:00 SGT Matthew S. 8859774

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>I&#39;ve been a member of my local Post for about a year now; very welcoming and this Post &amp; Auxiliary are very active in the community - to where I can&#39;t keep track of everything going on.<br /><br />I am, however, the youngest member - by about 20 years (the bulk of the current members are 60-80). My kids are finally old enough I can participate in the community to an extent, but other groups I&#39;m already involved with and facilitating kids&#39; activities takes up the bulk of my free time.<br /><br />With other Veterans I have spoke with that are around my age, they have expressed a desire to join &amp; participate but time is the main issue. I&#39;m not honestly sure of a good solution with that; not at least until kids are pretty well grown.

2024-09-02T14:01:01-04:00 2024-09-02T14:01:01-04:00 2024-07-21T17:43:45-04:00