'Living in the past'

VFW Magazine, Nov-Dec, 2004

In the Sept. 6, 2004, issue of Army Times, Robert F. Dorr made some interesting observations about major veterans groups. "I'd like to ask why the nation's large veterans groups seem so out of touch with America--even with the active-duty force," he wrote. He added, "The VFW, in particular, has an elaborate ritual at meetings that is certain to turn off many younger veterans."

The columnist quote one vet as saying, "I don't think I could wear one of those funny hats." Dorr want on: "Many groups, like the VFW ... appear to be living not in the 20th century but in the 19th."

In response, Commander-in-Chief John Furgess pointed out: "Many [younger vats] join because there's a common bond that exists between men and women who have worn the uniform, and especially between those who served in battle, regardless of age."

But Dorr did underscore a fundamental fact of modern life in quoting Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community by Robert D. Putnam: "Television, two-career families, suburban sprawl [and] generational changes [mean] that fewer and fewer of us [join] ... "organizations.