VFW battles to attract members

VFW battles to attract members
As older veterans fade from the scene, the group is seeking to recruit younger vets.
By Jessica Kwong

Months in advance, Pedro Santiago already knew what he wanted to wear to his first Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention. What he ordered from a catalogue wasn't a uniform like the kind hundreds of others donned in San Antonio this week, but a baseball cap with special embroidery.

“Vietnam veteran,” he beamed. “You can wear this hat now, but if you wore it in the late '60s and '70s, (people) would throw rocks at you.”

Vietnam veterans make up 36 percent of total VFW membership, more than World War II vets, and are destined to eventually become the organization's newest older generation. But the VFW's long-term future now depends on how well it attracts much younger veterans.
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