Stopped by my hometown American Legion today. Small New England town, typical of the region. River, falls, dam, mill...village grew up around the mill. Had a conversation with a generational pier there over a beer. We talked how he was activated to go to Iraq, a few years back, at 45 years old, and his experiences there. We talked about American Legion membership and what the Legion does...other than being a watering hole. Veteran outreach, counselling, finding employment. My old high school friend, veteran and all around nice fellow, knew about my elderly parents, details. Seems he goes out of his way to check in on them. This is a microcosm of what veterans around the country do in their lives for the people around them. Can't find enough good things to say.
My family have all been members for several generations now. Like all such organizations, they are only as good as the locals who run them, and for the most part the AL has been a top notch org. Glad you are considering joining up. In my grandpa's day, WW I era and after, they also functioned as a sort of unofficial county deputy reserve for the county sheriff and town police, a necessity in west Texas at the time, we have some very large counties with small populations and tax bases here, many at the time had maybe one sheriff for the entire county and some towns had no police at all, so they were the natural choice for that. Not nearly as exciting now of course, but a good group of real citizens to have around just the same. There is a scene in an old gangster movie that parodies that sort of 'vigilantism', Dillinger iirc. lol I grew up in the 'Cold War 'era and VN, and I don't have any fond memories of the VFW in that era, though, and refused to set foot in one until 1998, and still don't go much, never took to it; many of the Posts do indeed fit the image of being merely just a beer joint in dry counties or towns here in Tx. Maybe they changed in the last 20 years, I wouldn't know.
I've been a member off and on of both the American Legion and the VFW. It was maybe 1972 I was already back in the civilian world and was watching a documentary on the Vietnam War alongside of my father who served in the Pacific as a Marine during WW ll who was also a member of both the American Legion and the VFW. It was a place where vets would go to drink beer and tell sea stories. My father like most WW ll vets never looked at the Vietnam War being a real war. While watching the documentary my father turned around facing me saying "I guess it is a real war." A few days later my father took me to the local VFW Post to drink beer. I was the youngest one inside the post, mostly WW ll vets and I wasn't really welcomed or at least that's the feeling I got. By the 1980's that started changing and Korean War and Vietnam vets started joining the VFW. Now the American Legion is a larger organization that has large political clout in Congress. American Legion Post also has its bars where you van drink beer cheaper than drinking at the local saloon. And Vietnam veterans were welcomed even during the 1970's. Both veteran organizations have different membership requirements. American Legion: Eligibility Veterans who served at least one day of active duty during wartime, or are serving now, are potentially eligible for membership in The American Legion. Members must have been honorably discharged or still serving honorably. Merchant Marines who served from December 7, 1941, to December 31, 1946, are also eligible... -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Legion VFW: Membership Membership in the VFW is restricted to any active or honorably discharged officer or enlisted person who is a citizen of the United States and who has served in its armed forces "in any foreign war, insurrection or expedition, which service shall be recognized by the authorization or the issuance of a military campaign medal." The following is a partial list of United States campaign medals, ribbons, and badges the VFW uses to determine membership eligibility: Navy and Marine Corps Combat Action Ribbon Air Force Combat Action Medal Combat Infantryman Badge Combat Medical Badge Combat Action Badge Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon (with Gold Border) SSBN Deterrent Patrol insignia Navy Expeditionary Medal Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal Spanish Campaign Medal Philippine Campaign Medal World War I Victory Medal Nicaraguan Campaign Medal Yangtze Service Medal China Service Medal American Defense Service Medal American Campaign Medal (overseas service required) European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal Army of Occupation Medal Navy Occupation Service Medal Korean Service Medal Korea Defense Service Medal Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal Vietnam Service Medal Southwest Asia Service Medal Kosovo Campaign Medal Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal Afghanistan Campaign Medal Iraq Campaign Medal -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veterans_of_Foreign_Wars
