The most recent evidence of state veterans businesses ‘ ongoing challenges to recruit members and maintain financial stability are the merging of two Connecticut VFW comments and one’s declining health.
Darien VFW Post 6933 , has about 120 people on the books, but gathering half a dozen people for an established consensus has been hard, said , Scott VanDerheyden, who was blog commander until recently. Moreover, income from all sources is not meeting costs needed to keep the group’s creating available, VanDerheyden said.
” I know we’re in financial problems right now”, the , U. S. Marine Corps , senior of the Gulf War said.
The world’s 18 million soldiers comprise about 6 percent of the population, according to the , U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Of , Connecticut ‘s , 3.6 million people, about 172, 000, or 4.8 percentage, are military soldiers, including about 126, 000 war veterans. Of the total in , Connecticut, about 14, 000 are women and 158, 000 are men, according to the national organization.
The government’s total senior population is predicted to decline from 20.8 million in 2015 to 12 million in 2045. The leaders of soldiers ‘ organizations say they welcome the relative calm that has prevailed since the 20th century’s devastating war, but they also want to see younger soldiers who can maintain the comradeship and community services that have characterized their rates for more than 100 years.
Consolidation has been a critical to the VFW’s life in , Connecticut. In April,  , Waterbury Post 201 , merged with , Naugatuck Post 1946. The , Naugatuck , article lacked a developing, and maintaining account was becoming more challenging, Post 201 Commander , Al Comeau , said. The majority of people are  , Vietnam , soldiers, said Comeau, 77, himself a , U. S. Army , former of that battle.
Statewide, the VFW counted about 10, 000 people in fiscal year 2023-24, about the same as in the past fiscal year, position Commander , Stanley Borusiewicz , said. About half of the account is , Vietnam , soldiers, while most of the individuals are soldiers of the Gulf War and the war in , Iraq , and , Afghanistan. A dozen World War II people remain, but of the 16.4 million people who served in that most significant and deadly combat, only 119, 550 survived as of 2023. In , Connecticut, about 2, 059 Military veterans were dead last month, according to the , National World War II Museum.
According to Borusiewicz, VFW officials are constantly looking for newcomers and returning soldiers. One method is to network family gatherings.  , Danbury , users, for example, have a family picnic breakfast every Friday evening, he said.
The biggest difficulty, Borusiewicz said, is persuading people to take management positions, one of the key factors behind the collapse of the , Naugatuck , article. He also noted the consolidation in 2021 of the , West Hartford , and , New Britain , articles. As in , Darien, the , West Hartford , publish was having difficulty filling a vote of five needed to hold regular meetings. The article sold its tower at , 83 South St.  , and merged with , New Britain ‘s , VFW Post 511. VFW people in , Manchester , also had to buy their developing about eight years ago because they could never meet the cost of roofing, siding, and other upgrades.
Comeau and Borusiewicz gave different figures for the complete account of the combined articles in , Waterbury , and , Naugatuck. Borusiewicz claimed it was basically about 445 while Comeau listed it as 343. In any case, Comeau described the post as “robust”, with a constantly rented auditorium, a restaurant open to the public, and a pleasant blanket always out for new users. One of his ambitions, Comeau said, is to reach out to soldiers in the surrounding , Naugatuck Valley , to raise the article’s flip phone.
Veterans companies also lobby in the state and the nation to advance soldiers and their families, along with camaraderie and guidance regarding soldiers ‘ benefits. However, according to a record in The , Atlantic , in 2021, the , American Legion ‘s , membership declined by nearly 23 percent in the past 20 years, and since 1992, the VFW’s divisions dropped by almost half.
The , American Legion , in , Connecticut , has about 17, 000 people in 140 content, business adjutant , Harry R.” Butch” Hansen , said. The Army is “holding its personal”, he said, but part of the ongoing problem is one that affects all political companies: people are not as sociable as they once were.
” Today’s generation does n’t feel the need to join a group”, he said.
In the meantime, older people ( about 70 percent of the Republic’s people in , Connecticut , are  , Vietnam , soldiers, Hansen said ) are passing away and not being completely replaced. The business has had some of the same struggles as the VFW with shut and merging posts, said Hansen, a 35-year , U. S. Air Force , veteran of many Middle Eastern campaigns.
” We always worry about numbers … We have our ups and downs”, he said.
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( c ) 2024 Journal Inquirer
Distributed by , Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
