Some American Legion officials blame the organization's declining membership on veterans wanting to spend their time with their families instead of with the organization.
American Legion Post 438 commander Steven M. Jimmo stands outside the post in Chicopee's Fairview section with new member Brian Willette. Legion posts are seeking new members to help bolster their dwindling numbers.
The American Legion, an organization created by an act of Congress in 1919 and which spearheaded the original GI Bill for veterans returning from World War II in the 1940s, has seen its national membership dwindle to 2.4 million, down from 2.7 million a decade ago and 3.1 million 20 years ago.
The decline in membership, documented by the legion’s national office, is reflected at some 14,000 American Legion posts across the country. In Fostoria, Ohio, this month, a Legion post prepared to auction its clubhouse off to cover mounting debt, the most drastic of reminders of challenges faced by the veterans’ group.
Now, posts from Indian Orchard to Indianapolis, where the organization is headquartered, are looking to rebuild their ranks with a new generation of veterans coming from wartime service.
Twenty years ago, American Legion Post 351 in Holyoke had more than 600 members; today, its rolls include less than 200.
“We do need new members. A lot of our members are dying off,” says Raymond E. Dufresne, commander of Post 351. Most of the post’s members are now over the age of 60, their numbers including World War II-, Korea- and Vietnam-era veterans.
“Younger people don’t want to join. I don’t know why,” Dufresne said.
The American Legion is open to all war-time veterans whether they served in a war zone or not. Along with serving as a major lobbying organization for veterans’ causes, the Legion also has a long history of promoting patriotic programs and mentoring young people, including through the American Legion Baseball and Boys’ State and Nation programs. (The American Legion Auxiliary sponsors the Girls’ State and Nation programs.)
John B. Raughter, communications director for the national office in Indianapolis, attributes the decline in membership in the American Legion to the fact that World War II veterans are dying off and younger people are slow to join.
The U.S. Veterans’ Administration estimates there are approximately only 1.2 million American veterans remaining from the 16 million who served during World War II, and that number declines at a rate of just over 600 a day.
Raughter says he is optimistic that outreach efforts will beef up membership numbers for the American Legion. He recalls qreports from 40 years ago which predicted the group’s demise in the wake of the Vietnam War, something he called “foolish and wrong,” then as well as now.
Kristian Lecca, past commander of Holyoke Post 351 who is also retired as the Paper City’s veterans’ agent, theorizes that today’s generation of veterans face daunting work and family schedules, making them less likely to join groups like the Legion.
“Now, it’s a two-person, working household, and the kids play soccer and baseball,” Lecca said of younger people. “They are just really busy.”
Kristian Lecca, past commander of American Legion Post 351 in Holyoke. Lecca said young people don’t realize they can still be a member of the Legion and access benefits from its benefits and program without having to spend a lot of time at the post.
Larger membership numbers are important because the bigger the organization the more clout it can have with politicians in Washington, Lecca said. “These people want to get re-elected. Our numbers certainly count,” she said.
At American Legion Post 438 in Chicopee’s Fairview section, the membership has decreased from about 240 to 200 over the past decade.
“The young people aren’t really joining per se,” says Post 438 adjutant Steven M. Jimmo. “They aren’t there for the bar. They come to the Legion for activities that are offered in the day room such as pool and Ping-Pong.”
“There is an abundance of things we do,” added Jimmo, who is a past state commander for the American Legion. He cited programs such as American Legion baseball among the good works the organization does for communities; Jimmo estimates that 64 percent of all Major League Baseball players got their start in American Legion leagues.
Post 438 operates a Family Support Network, which provides services to the families of those service people deployed overseas, something Jimmo said has taken on increased importance as more military members get deployed repeatedly.
“We don’t care what the problem is,” Jimmo said. “A lot of people get killed thinking about family problems.” The members of the local American Legion post step in to help families with problems on the homefront so their service members need not worry.
Forty-seven-year-old Brian W. Willette of South Hadley said he just recently joined Post 438 to re-experience the camaraderie of military life. Willette, who was awarded a Purple Heart after being wounded by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan in 2010, retired from the Army National Guard last year. He had served for 21 years.
Being with American Legion members helps him re-establsh his bond with the military service, Willette said. He retired at the rank of staff sergeant, having been an infantry squad leader and having also served in Bosnia in 2001.
In April, officers and staff members from the national office traveled to Springfield at American Legion Post 277 in Indian Orchard to talk about programs in an effort to increase members. Donald A. Roberts, past commander of the Indian Orchard post, said the membership drive netted the post 35 members who had previously joined the American Legion but were unaffiliated with a post.
That influx brings the Indian Orchard post’s membership to a little more than 300, according to Roberts. Ten years ago membership hovered in the neighborhood of 500.
“We are trying to rebuild our post,” said Roberts, who, like Lecca, believes today’s young wartime veterans are not yet ready to join the American Legion, preferring to spend time with their families instead.
As for what can be done to reverse the downward trend, Robers said, "If I had the answer to that question I would be on Easy Street."
He theorized that membership might be bolstered if people are made more aware of all the work the American Legion does.
Among the things posts do locally is support the Holyoke Soldiers Home and the Veterans Administration Hospital in Leeds.
"We try to help out veterans and their families as much as possible," Roberts said.
He noted that in addition to Boys and Girls State programs, American Legions also sponsor baseball teams. People need to understand the American Legion fought for the original G.I. Bill as well as its most recent incarnation to make things like educational benefits and low home mortgage rates available to veterans.
In addition, Roberts said posts also provide social clubs where members can relax with friends and enjoy low-priced meals.
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