VFW added 25,000 new members during the past year

VFW snaps 27-year membership decline and adds nearly 25,000 new members

Military Times
By: Brian Mackley
July 16, 2019

This year, the VFW helped advocate on the behalf of 526,000 veterans for $8.4 billion in disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs. It also highlighted it’s prominent legislative advocacy for veterans in the nation’s capital, as well.

Don Foran, who as a teenager spent the last months of World War II on dangerous assignments driving a jeep, restored and donated the same model of a 1942 jeep to the Canyon VFW post. (Lauren Koski/The Amarillo Globe News via AP)

The Veterans of Foreign Wars said it has added almost 25,000 new members during the past year, ending a long period of steady decline.

Officials with the 120-year-old veteran service organization attribute the uptick to a new strategy to target new members using social media, as well as word of mouth, to inform veterans how much work they do to serve veterans.

"The VFW is making a difference in the lives of countless others every day, and thanks to the power of social media and the internet, more people are taking notice and wanting to be part of our team,” VFW National Commander B.J. Lawrence said in a recent post on the organizations website.
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Orlando Rocks for Veterans Benefit number #7

Combat PTSD Wounded Times

Kathie Costos

March 24, 2019

Yesterday at VFW Post 4287 in Orlando, a large crowd gathered to support a Marine veteran who is in need of some help. Hayward Merritt was injured as a veteran...but as a veteran, the community came together for him!

VFW Post Donated $350,000...and may have to close

VFW Post in Bedford fighting to save historic hall: ‘This is what we call home’

FOX 8 Cleveland
By Suzanne Stratford
FEBRUARY 11, 2019

Over the years, Post 1082 has donated nearly $350,000 to a number of groups, charities, and scholarship funds.

BEDFORD, Ohio -- They served their country in the military and their community as veterans.

Now, members of VFW Post 1082 in Bedford are fighting to save their historic hall.

“This building's been here since 1932, so we’ve been here a long time,” said Vietnam veteran Willie Adams. ”It’s almost like you’re losing your house; I mean, this is what we call home.”

Much more than brick and mortar, the building on Northfield Road has been a rock for these veterans, and a place where they could feel comfortable and camaraderie.

“This hall is my solace; this is where I need to be and come to relax,” said Vietnam veteran John Freeman. “Nobody in the world other than veterans can empathize with what we feel and how we feel.”

The Post fell on hard times this past year with a number of members passing away or moving out of town and consequently they fell behind in their taxes. They lost the building to foreclosure, but have been trying ever since to buy it back or make a deal to lease it.

However, Adams says, the price has doubled and now without help they will have to leave by February 17.

“It’s heartbreaking,” said Adams.

The loss would be devastating for many others in the community as well.
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Church, beer and patriotism?

Castle Church Brewing Flag Dedicated

Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
February 7, 2019

On Monday, Castle Church Brewing had a ceremony to dedicate the flag that will hang on the wall everyday as a reminder of the price paid by those who provided the freedoms we have.

(Sorry for the delay in getting this up, but I have been dealing with my back since Monday night and spent most of the time in bed. Cannot edit from bed no matter how hard I would try.)

Maryland Veteran Lives on Roof Waiting for Santa

Man sleeps on roof for 12 days for toy drive

Cecil Whig
By Katie Tabeling
9 hrs ago

Mangini is also a veteran, as he served with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division in the late 1970s. In his own way, living up on the roof during Christmastime is a way to pay tribute to those in the military who are currently stationed in Afghanistan, Iraq or other far-flung places. Mangini himself never served overseas, but said his tent is “a mansion” compared to what he lived in while training. He’s willing to bet his current living conditions are miles better than active-duty troops.

ELKTON — He has eyes that twinkle and a beard as white as snow. But unlike the Santa Claus described in “The Night Before Christmas” that shimmies down chimneys to leave presents, Bruce Mangini, of Landenberg, Pa., plans on staying on his rooftop until he can rally enough people to fill his “sleigh” with toys for families of veterans in need.

Mangini, 58, started living on the roof of the Elkton Veterans of Foreign Wars Elkton Memorial Post No. 8175 on Dec. 2 in a fundraising and awareness campaign called #BruceOnTheRoof

To protect himself from the wind and rain, he built a tent out of tarp and a blue gazebo and sleeps under an electric blanket on a cot his grandson chose for him. He comes down on occasion to walk around, per his doctor’s orders, and to go into the VFW to use the bathroom.

But for the most part, Mangini stays on the roof — and he’ll come down for good when his 12 days are up or when his trailer, parked nearby, is filled with toys, coats and non-perishable food donations.

“People say I’m crazy,” he said. “Well, I’ve been called that a lot in my life.”

Mangini likes to participate and organize charity events in the tristate region, like a motorcycle ride to fundraise for the Domestic Violence Center of Chester County, Pa., or coordinating with his cousin on a cookie baking and giveaway for veterans. But he’s always gravitated to Elkton after he established a friendship with Commissioner Mary Jo Jablonski and her family. After working with the Elkton VFW for other toy drives with the Steel Horse Guardians, a nonprofit charitable group of motorcyclists, he’s felt the need to continue paying it forward to Elkton.

“I don’t like talking negatively about nobody, but Elkton is a very small town, and it’s a struggling town that’s trying to do better,” Mangini said. “When I see a small town trying to do better, I want to jump in and help. Everybody needs a helping hand once in a while.”
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Vietnam Veterans honored in Longwood

Today at the VFW Post 8207 in Longwood, Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy presented Vietnam veterans and their families with pins and challenge coins.

It was a day to remember them and all they did for this country so that no generation would ever be betrayed like they were.

On a personal note, it is why I am heartsick that they are once again, forgotten by the generations who came after them.

Veterans over the age of 50 are the majority of the known veterans committing suicide, but none of the new groups want to help them.

They waited longer for compensation and to have their caregivers helped out along the way, and are still waiting for someone to even notice we are here.

So yes, the Vietnam Veterans deserve much more than this day but it was nice to hear the kind words.

UPDATE
Sgt. Dave interviewed people for his radio show Remember The Fallen

Listen to the compelling story of the First Vietnamese Congresswoman Murphy's families survival of fleeing Communist Vietnam and being saved while drifting in the China Sea without any gas by the US Navy Vietnam Veterans. Most of all, how she and her staff with the assistance of VFW Post 8207, raised the bar, by honoring our Vietnam Veterans with passion and dignity with the pinning of The VNW50th Lapel Pin. God Bless Our Vietnam Veterans

Listen to "1ST Vietnamese Congress Woman Murphy Honors VNW 50th Veterans" on Speaker.

Rain did not stop Vietnam Veteran from his duty to VFW!

After Photo of Veteran Sitting in the Rain Goes Viral, Walmart Makes Amends
WNEP 16 News
BY ALLEN VICKERS
May 5, 2018

DICKSON CITY, Pa. -- Thousands on Facebook shared a picture of a veteran sitting by himself in the rain outside a Walmart in Dickson City.

In the post, the veteran's wife says he was made to sit out in the rain and not in the covered area of the store.

One day later, Manuel Griffin was in front of the store again--this time in the sun--collecting donations for service members.

The veteran wouldn't talk with Newswatch 16 on camera. He friend David Ragan knows why.

“He is going to do what he has to do for his VFW, and he wants to make sure he is representing them the same way we did when we wore the uniform,” Ragan said.
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6th Annual Orlando Rocks for Veterans Honoree Ret. US Navy Kelly Smith

Yesterday was one of my favorite events. It was the 6th Annual Orlando Rocks for Veterans at VFW Post 4287 in Orlando, sponsored by Semper Fidelis America. 

This year, I am dealing with a lot of back problems, so not the same footage as previous years, but as you can see, we still had a great day for a great lady!

 Kelly Smith and Cook

 CB Mike, Seabees

 Hubby visiting after he locked me up!

 And yes, he took my camera away too!

This is Jason. He was locked up more than most people.

And yes, we locked up his adorable baby son too!