Honor soldiers by supporting your local VFW
GUESTWORK | Ashley Green
The history of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, like its members, is a noble one. The earliest organization can be traced back to 1899 in Ohio, where veterans, deriving from the Spanish-American War (1898), banded together to create a common voice. They were an experienced and united group that would continue to fight, here at home, for basic service rights, fundamental compensation for the soldiers and their families’ sacrifices during the time of war. Essentially, veterans themselves had to create a secure organization founded upon the lack of communal and governmental support for its servicemen during and after military action. Today, however, there are hundreds of various organizations, each providing specific services for the individuals directly affected by America at war.
Although the VFW was created at the turn of the 20th century, by 1936 it had grown to 200,000 members and began to spread, albeit independently at first, from state to state. Currently the VFW has spread to every single state in the country, with multiple chapters in some locations. It has become more actively involved in the support of significant programs, such as the Wounded Warrior Program (WWP), that offer services and resources to wounded veterans and their families. In addition, one must recognize that the VFW’s history demonstrates two primary points: the VFW’s genesis and existence illustrates that veterans and their families have not been appropriately supported by their community, and its permanence conveys that organizations must exist to represent veterans and provide a safe foundation by which servicemen and their families can rely even while serving overseas. Upon completion of one’s service, the VFW also offers a common ground by which men and woman find individuals with similar experiences as well as feel the direct support of one’s community.
Currently, the VFW continues to demand better replacement aid, service compensation, educational benefits and improved health care for all service men and woman. Locally, the La Fore Lock VFW Post 755, named after La Fore Lock, a Springfield man who died in France during the last year of World War I, actively hosts dinners and sponsors fundraising events to raise money for soldiers’ families. In conjunction with the WWP, the VFW is hosting a fundraiser April 16 from 6- 11 p.m. for the family of Joshua Powell, who died Sept. 21, 2010, due to severe head trauma incurred in Afghanistan. Over the last year this Post 755 has also raised more than 25,000 beanie babies to send overseas to troops as gifts to the children in war zones. Although one must have
served overseas during a war to become a member, the VFW is open to the
public for one primary reason: through the support of one’s local
chapter, the community can actively assist its soldiers and their
families through various channels and methods.
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