“When they come home, they try to get away from stuff like this,” he said. “They come back home and have a lot to get settled on. They don’t want to talk about nothing when they first get home.
“We’re struggling like everyone else right now. We’re barely keeping the bills paid, but we’re keeping open so far,” Hangbers said.
While the Hamilton and Middletown posts profit from membership fees - $25 a year for a regular membership - donations, fish fries and renting out its facilities, both said their biggest source of revenue is the canteen, where members come in and drink and eat.
Many of the canteen customers are regulars, like Bill McGeorge, a 69-year-old Vietnam veteran who said he frequents the Hamilton VFW two or three times each week.
“It’s just a nice place where you can come and talk to other veterans,” McGeorge said.
“I wouldn’t call it therapy, but it’s kind of nice to talk to someone who’s been through the same thing you have.”
Hangbers said the Hamilton post continues to bring in new members who are veterans from the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But the canteen is the major revenue generator for the Middletown and Hamilton VFWs, so a healthy membership number isn’t enough. The members need to be active at the post.
“They help a little bit, but them young guys, they don’t come in that much,” he said.
The majority of 2.1 million VFW members, like McGeorge, are over 60, according to Jerry Newberry, spokesman for the VFW National and a Vietnam vet. As the nonprofit VFW posts struggle not only with fewer donations and revenue generators amid the economy, they are also facing an aging membership.
“People are getting older and ... members are dying off,” said Tony White, commander of VFW Miami Valley Post 3809 in Middletown.
The issue isn’t isolated to the local posts. According to Newberry, the issue isn’t recruiting new members, but keeping them. He said the National VFW has encouraged chapters to be family-friendly, involved in the community and communicate through new channels, such as Twitter and Facebook.
“This new generation of veteran is very smart, they are educated, they’re in positions of leadership,” Newberry said. “We tell them, ‘the times are changing, and you have to change with them. ... Each has served equally well, and each generation is valuable.”
White said VFW National has tried to “instill a sense of change” in local posts to not only recruit, but retain younger veterans returning from the battlegrounds of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Scott Zeller, a probation officer for the city of Fairfield who returned from Iraq last year, said he’s a member of the National VFW, but isn’t affiliated with any of the local posts, mostly due to time restraints.
“Young guys don’t have the time to hang out at the local VFW post and drink beer,” Zeller said, who added his parents and grandparents are VFW members. He said he’s been meaning to join a local chapter.
But, the VFW offers more than just a place to socialize with other veterans. Membership perks include help finding employment, discounts on health and auto insurance plans, and help in getting the benefits all veterans are entitled to, according to the National VFW.
Aiding with employment is key considering the Labor Department estimated 12.1 percent of veterans serving since 9/11 were unemployed in October, higher than the national rate of 9 percent.
Of the 7,600 posts throughout the U.S., there are area posts in Fairfield, Hamilton, Middletown, Franklin, West Chester Twp., Mason and Lebanon.
Since 2001, 12 percent of the roughly 2.5 million eligible for VFW membership have signed on, Newberry said, which is a higher percentage than the eligible World War II, Korean and Vietnam War veterans who are VFW members.
Veterans can become a member if they received a campaign medal for overseas service, served at least 30 consecutive or 60 non-consecutive days in Korea since 1953 or received hostile fire or imminent danger pay, according to the National VFW.
Many young veterans returning from the Middle East are joining the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Zeller said. The non-profit, national organizations describes itself as “a 21st Century veterans’ organization.”
While the IAVA doesn’t have many local ties, 20,000 are members, according to its website. Zeller received a $200 gift card to a clothing store when he returned from overseas, and the organization is known to give out Bengals tickets and other giveaways. IAVA membership is free, according to its website.
“It’s marketed toward the younger veterans,” Zeller said. “Maybe when they (veterans) get older they’ll join the VFW.”
Contact this reporter at (513) 483-5237 or Kelsey.Cano@coxinc.com.
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