NORTHAMPTON --Gazette columnist John Paradis brings a veteran's perspective to his monthly essays, and this week a bit of news as well:

Paradis describes how the identity crisis faced by national veterans service organizations like the VFW and American Legion is touching down in Florence. 

This week, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Michael Francis Curtin Post No. 8006 in Florence will hold  a special session to look at its future. Paradis reports that the group is in danger of losing its charter if it cannot find new officers to help it guide the organization.

“We’d sure like to see some of the younger
vets get involved," Charlie Coleman, a member of the Florence VFW, said. The group will meet Wednesday.

Here is an advance look at parts of Paradis' column.

Paradis (at left) is a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel who lives in Florence. He is the public relations manager at the Leeds VA.

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By JOHN PARADIS

NORTHAMPTON -- On a recent Tuesday night at American Legion Post 28 in Bay State, the Veterans Council of Northampton is meeting.

Consisting of representatives from 14 veteran and civic organizations, the council is discussing important matters.  Planning for the annual Memorial Day parade in Florence is coming up soon and there are a ton of details to review. Then there’s a Flag Day event June 12 at the Elks Lodge. 

Another council member talks about a fundraising and education effort that would send World War II and Korean War veterans who entered the military from Northampton, including Florence and Leeds, to Washington, D.C., for an all-expense-paid “Tribute Tour.”

At the table as an observer, I am the youngest in attendance, by far, and, at 47, I’m middle age myself. Most of the council members sitting at the table are Vietnam veterans or older. They all have several things in common. They are all patriots. They all want to see their legacy of duty, honor and country continue. 

None of them toot their own horn.

But there is one problem. Veteran service organizations all across the nation are struggling to survive as older members die and younger veterans decide not to join.

“We are all getting older,” says Charlie Coleman, a member of the council and a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Michael Francis Curtin Post No. 8006 in Florence. “We’d sure like to see some of the younger vets get involved."

The VFW, like other service organizations, has been trying to recruit younger members into the organization. The organizations would really like to see veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars join them and help keep them going, but word of mouth doesn’t seem to be bringing in new members.

On Wednesday, the VFW will call an emergency meeting to determine its future status. The VFW needs officers to lead the organization or it will lose its charter – an unfathomable loss to Northampton. 

It would be an outright shame to see the VFW shuttered. 

For years, VFW members and other veterans from other veterans groups have been a major contributor to efforts that build a greater sense of community. And they have worked tirelessly to support veterans of every generation.

Most of the volunteers at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center where I work are veterans themselves or members of auxiliary groups. They make a huge difference – driving people to appointments, assisting with office and clerical work and greeting patients and helping them and families get where they need to go.

No one takes care of veterans like other veterans. It should come as no surprise to anyone that Legion and VFW members want their organizations to continue to flourish, not for themselves, but for future veterans. Organizations like the Legion and VFW help with VA claims. Without World War II veterans pushing for it, there would have been no G.I. bill, for example.   

To this day, I still remember my first trip to a Major League Baseball game on a charter bus of kids – paid for by the American Legion through my dad’s American Legion post. It was the same post that every year would hold cookouts to raise money to sponsor Little League Baseball. I would later earn a VFW scholarship. 

My high school friends played American Legion summer baseball. Other classmates went to Legion- and Legion Auxiliary-sponsored Boys State and Girls State, where high school students actively learn how local and state government works.

When a friend of mine was killed in action in Iraq, representatives of service organizations lined the streets of his funeral route for miles, at attention, saluting and paying their last respects. When I returned from a deployment, the first handshake I received at the airport after hugging my wife and kids was a veteran wearing a uniform cap from the American Legion.

When a young disabled Army veteran’s wife had major surgery, and he had trouble paying his rent, it was a veteran service organization that helped him with his bills. Another veteran told me his children wouldn’t have had Christmas toys under the tree if not for toys donated by the VFW.

Yet while many younger vets tell me they know about the VFW, they also tell me they don’t want to join any organization after getting out of the service. They want to get on with their lives, they say – that means employment, relationships, going to school, perhaps raising a family. 

Others aren’t sure what the service organizations accomplish. And now, community groups have to compete with Facebook and Twitter and texting – many younger veterans are more interested in social media and online networking than meeting in person in a community organization.

Regardless of the reasons, veterans of different eras need to build on their similarities and the Veterans Council of Northampton is a good place to start and their members should be applauded for their efforts. Keeping the VFW alive and all the veteran organizations going is an investment that pays priceless dividends for a community and for those who have stood in harm’s way.