Putting a premium on the future - #lakewoodnews

About 3 million Americans have served in the military since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and just as there are differences between generations of the public at large, there are differences between younger veterans and those who served before them.One of those differences is a reluctance to join organizations like Veterans of Foreign Wars.Like many veterans of her era, Rita Leblanc, of Centennial, said she doesn't feel like membership in an organization fits into her schedule."I just don't have the time," said Leblanc, who served in the Marine Corps from 2000-07, with duty in Korea. "I'm a student. I'm a parent."Army veteran Jason Moore, of Lakewood, shares that concern."At this point, I'm just too busy," said Moore, a student who served as a field artilleryman in Afghanistan.But Moore, who heads up the veterans club at Arapahoe Community College, said he would like to spend time around older veterans."It'd be nice to go and talk to vets from another generation and have some camaraderie there," he said.Vernon Baltes, of Parker, who served as an Army cavalry scout from 2000-05, including in Iraq and Kosovo, said younger veterans may feel uncomfortable in groups of older veterans.Greta Bleau, senior vice commander of VFW Post 9644 in Sheridan, said the club has struggled to attract younger members and that Vietnam veterans -- now in their 60s and beyond -- make up the core of its membership."I think our problem is that we get a couple here and there and they feel like they're alone," she said.A societal shift?Paul LeVeque, post commander in Sheridan, said he and his fellow Vietnam veterans often didn't feel welcome in the VFW when they returned home, and they want to make sure the organization is inviting to younger members.He said younger veterans may not know that the VFW can help them with problems accessing veterans benefits.Though LeVeque said Sheridan's older demographics plays a role in the post's membership, he has heard from younger veterans that they found it hard to interact in a group made up almost exclusively of older veterans.At VFW Post 4666 in Littleton, there are no members who served in the post 9/11 era. In fact, 70-year-old Vietnam veteran Stan McClure, the post's service officer, said he is one of the youngest members."We'd really like to change that because we're getting older," the Army veteran said.Members of the Littleton post gather three days per week in the mornings -- which McClure says may be part of their problem, as the younger veterans are likely to be at work. He also said that a place where members can sit and have a beer, something the post lacks that many VFW halls have, could help. Instead, members gather around a long table for coffee in the small white Gallup Street house that serves as the post."We're losing members faster than we're gaining them," McClure said.In Sheridan, the post at 2680 W. Hampden Avenue has the typical VFW hall look -- a bar, a jukebox and TVs. But post Junior Vice Cmdr. Paul Gremse said that could play into the sterotype of the organization being for the older crowd.He also chalked some of the problem up to a societal change."These organizations used to be like the social hub of the community," said Gremse, who retired from the Air Force in 2001 after a 23-year career.LeBlanc said that when she got out of the Marines, she didn't know much about the VFW or similar organizations."I honestly thought it was just for older vets," she said.McClure didn't join the VFW as a younger vet either -- he just joined last year, nearly five decades after his tour in Vietnam. He says he's glad that he joined."I have a whole bunch of new friends," he said.A new approachSome VFW posts are being proactive in their quest for younger members. In Denver, VFW Post 1, which began even before the nationwide VFW organization, bills itself as "the oldest post with the youngest members." Post 1's location, located in an old art gallery in the Santa Fe Arts District, lends itself to a younger crowd.Post 1 even holds weekly yoga classes, coordinated by the Team Red, White & Blue, which is one of several upstart groups that appeals to the different interests younger veterans have. It was started in Michigan in 2010 by Army veteran Mike Erwin."Team RWB's mission is to enrich veterans' lives through physical and social activities," said Tara McMachen, who is the social director for the Denver chapter.Team RWB is not just for younger veterans. In fact, it's not just for veterans -- McMachen is not one. But roughly 70 percent of its members served, most in the post 9/11 era.Team RWB does not have a space of its own, but meets at various locations around the Denver area for running, rock climbing, Crossfit, bar trivia and more.LeVeque, of the Sheridan post, said that finding a way to get younger members will be crucial to the VFW's survival as an organization, noting that the posts do volunteer service and the older members are not as able to do as much as they used to."We have to," he said, "if we're going to stay afloat at least."

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