Community Corner

9/11 Brings New Generation to Local Veterans Post

Although the age of its members may be changing, Commander Jim Weaver of the Lake Washington VFW Post #2995 says the concerns of vets have stayed the same.

A decade ago, Friday nights at the Lake Washington VFW Post #2995 looked like this: Some dancing. A little drinking. Veterans and spouses sitting for dinner at the post’s bar while swapping stories about retirement and visits with grandchildren.

And while some of this remains the same, longtime members have heard new conversations in recent years.

There's talk of college, of first home buying and starting families. In the aftermath of 9/11, the Veterans of Foreign Wars has absorbed a new generation of veterans who are eligible to join—the men and women in their 20s and 30s who have served in the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan.

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Regardless of age, everyone here is a comrade, as Bellevue resident and Air Force veteran Andrew Baker, 30, says.

“They welcomed me with open arms—‘Let’s buy you a drink!’—and they told me to come back any time,” said Baker a three-year member of the local VFW post.

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The veteran advocacy organization was founded at the start of the 20th century to push for the rights and welfare of thousands of veterans who returned from overseas wars, specifically the Spanish-American War and in the Philippines. Many had returned with injuries and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and they struggled to deal with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.  

VFW membership was and is reserved to those who have faced combat in a foreign war. The posts have have long resisted changing this requirement even as the membership aged and began to die, said Corky Berthiaume, state adjutant for the Washington state VFW.

“That was discussed for many, many years, and it has always been almost unanimous not to change it,” Berthiaume said. “We’re not saying we’re better than people who didn’t serve in a foreign war. We share a commonality, he said.

"We share something that only people who have been in combat can relate to,” he said.

The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, led to two foreign wars. And this, in turn, created millions of eligible new members. 

According to the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, an assistance and advocacy group, more than 2.2 million Americans have served in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001. That is not as many as the number who served in Vietnam or World War II, but it exceeds the number of veterans who served in Operation Desert Storm.

Berthiaume said posts throughout the state are seeing more young members who seek the camaraderie, the mentorship and assistance from older veterans. They seek people who share their experiences.

For example, many 20- and 30-something veterans are just now adjusting to entering the workforce—something that many in their age group experienced years ago. Some estimates put young veteran unemployment at 25 percent, Berthiaume said.

“We’re offering scholarships to colleges and universities,” he said. “We’re helping with unemployment.”

Baker, who enlisted right after 9/11 and served for six years in the Air Force, including in Afghanistan and four tours in Iraq, said he immediately was greeted as a brother by older veterans at the Lake Washington VFW when he first walked in three years ago.

This wasn't the case elsewhere in his immediate post-military existence. He had moved to his brother’s Bellevue apartment just down the street from the post. Baker didn’t find a quick connection with the programmers and tech workers that were his brother’s colleagues and friends.

So, he wandered into the Lake Washington VFW Post #2995 to see what it was about.

“It was packed full of people dancing and eating,” he said.

The older vets not only welcomed Baker, they employed him as a bartender for a time. They encouraged him when he enrolled at Bellevue College, where he also started a veterans organization for college students.

“I learned of all the resources (the VFW posts) have,” Baker said, including assistance with dealing with the GI Bill and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Lake Washington post also served as his support system when his brother died suddenly several years ago.

“I truly have a family here,” he said.

Baker began recruiting. He brought in other younger veterans and younger members of the auxiliary. Today, there are 30 to 40 veterans of Iraq or Afghanistan among Lake Washington’s VFW ranks.

Even though the age of the veterans who are members of VFW may be changing, Commander Jim Weaver of the VFW post says the concerns have stayed the same.

“Twenty-thousand veterans last year lost their homes to foreclosure. PTSD is at an all-time high,” Weaver said.

VFW Posts around the state have encouraged younger veterans to take on leadership roles, Berthiaume said.

Some Vietnam veterans felt that the VFW did not welcome them when they returned from service 40 years ago, and many VFW members are determined to treat Iraq and Afghanistan veterans better than the way they were treated, he said.

“We want them to know they are the future of the organization,” Berthiaume said.

Lake Washington's Weaver pointed out that the teaching and mentorship at Lake Washington VFW Post #2995 isn't one-way. Younger vets have introduced older VFW members to unfamiliar territory such as karaoke parties, smart phones and Facebook. They helped the older veterans redesign the website.

“We enjoy having them,” Weaver said. “They keep us young.”

Editor's note: for a glimpse at how 9/11 changed security procedures in and around Redmond.


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