Boomers must reach out to younger vets to save VFW

Greg Bashaw, the 67-year-old commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3848 in Henderson, knows where to find baby boomers.

At VFW Post 3848 in Henderson.

“Many active members of our post — some 658 members — are Vietnam veterans who generally are baby boomers,” said Bashaw, who maintained Army tanks and trucks during the conflict in Southeast Asia.

What Bashaw and other veterans, including fellow Vietnam veteran Ken Veith, enjoy most about the post that has its home at 401 W. Lake Mead Parkway is the camaraderie and the opportunity to help other veterans.

Not long ago when I visited, it was filled with veterans talking sports, politics, terrorists and the weekly Friday fish fry.

The benefit of a shared military experience, Bashaw and Veith say, can’t be overestimated — even 50 years after the Vietnam War ended. Unless you’ve worn the uniform in a hostile situation, they say there’s no way to explain how your life has been affected.

“And I think going through something ugly makes you want to reach out and help others,” said Veith, a former post commander who worked in aviation operations during the war.

Bashaw , who has worked to ensure the post isn’t just seen as a place for inexpensive drinks, said post veterans try to ensure vets who obtain discharges apply for and obtain benefits due them.

Critical to the VFW at this time, Bashaw said, is attracting more young veterans who’ve fought in Afghanistan and Iraq.

As World War II and Korean War vets died off, the VFW — now with 1.3 million members — lost a third of its members during the past 20 years. The American Legion, whose members served in the military during wartime but not necessarily overseas as VFW membership requires, lost 1 million members since 1990.

Bashaw said it’s up to members of the VFW — largely boomer Vietnam veterans — to reach out to younger vets.

Once younger vets realize all that the VFW does for vets, he’s confident they’ll join.

Bashaw pointed out the VFW was critical to the formation of the GI Bill, which pays for vets’ higher education. He also noted the VFW lobbied for Agent Orange benefits for Vietnam veterans and for recent reforms at VA hospitals.

“We’ve got work to do, but we can get it done,” he said.

Paul Harasim’s column runs Sunday, Tuesday and Friday in the Nevada section and Thursday in the Life section. Contact him at pharasim@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5273. Follow @paulharasim on Twitter.