On Sunday, members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1433 in Glendale served around 400 drilling Navy reservists and their families at Luke Air Force Base at the close of Armed Forces Day weekend.
“I am very pleasantly surprised at what our turnout was,” said VFW 1433 Commander Jeffrey Eiler.
The VFW is using the cookout, in part, to overcome old stereotypes.
“We had this stigma that we were the bar, the smoky bar, and the old war stories and all that. That’s one part of the VFW, and it does exist, but we’re in the communities,” said Greg Akers, Commander of VFW District 3 Department of Arizona.
“We’re about community service. We’re about scholarships for kids,” said Eiler.
It is a day of service meant to give back to those who serve by those that served.
“It gives the reservists and staff a break for at least a day and be able to hang out with friends and family,” said YN2 Katrena Miller, who helped organize the event for Navy Reserve Center Phoenix.
But it is also an opportunity to meet face-to-face with potential new members. The VFW is America’s largest and oldest war veterans organization, but it has recently seen a decline in membership.
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Back in 2019, there were just over a million members, a million less than the peak in 1992.
“We’re losing our World War 2 veterans, we’re losing our Korea veterans, and soon, we’re going to be losing our Vietnam veterans,” said Akers.
Focusing on national veteran support efforts and working in the local community can help bring more people in, according to VFW leaders.
“Us getting out in the community makes them see us, and they want to be a part of us,” said Akers.
For District 3 in Arizona, five out of six VFW Posts are exceeding their membership goals.
“Nobody fights for veterans more than we do,” said Eiler.
