Young Veteran Seeks Community in Aging Organization

BY JOHN PATRICK DEES

Mike Drake slams down the phone. The Veterans of Foreign Wars elders have canceled on him again. Disappointed, Drake emails his friends; yet again, they will have to postpone.

For months, Drake, a U.S. Army combat veteran, has been trying to corner the District Leader for the Veterans of Foreign Wars organization in New Jersey. He needs to convince the long-time veteran to help Drake and other New York City veterans get their new Manhattan VFW chapter off the ground. No matter how much work they put into establishing the new post, this man’s blessing is required to move forward and the younger veterans cannot seem to get the buy-in they need from the previous generation to revive the VFW in New York City.

This is the third time in three months that the representative has canceled a scheduled appearance. VFW regulations require a district representative to attend the first six meetings of a new chapter.  

“They try to make sure that you aren’t going rogue,” Drake says, “which is kind of what I am trying to do.”

Drake, 32, believes veterans young and old alike need a physical space in the community, and the best first step would be to create a youthful VFW post where Iraq and Afghanistan veterans would feel accepted.

 The effort has not been easy. Despite a diminishing presence in the city, the VFW maintains strict membership admission regulations, driving away potential members. The VFW organization also requires a new chapter to overcome a series of bureaucratic obstacles, some of which place undue burden on chapters with younger members. These obstacles are even more insurmountable when VFW officials prove difficult to contact and slow to act. 

Drake’s effort itself goes against the wider trend.VFW posts across the country are closing as the organization’s leadership struggles to recruit younger veterans. New York City has been hit particularly hard. VFW posts 2813 in Queens and 8031 in New Hyde Park shuttered their doors earlier this year as their membership dwindled, causing them to run out of funds. 

Across the country, there are still more than 12,000 VFW posts, but not a single one can be found on the island of Manhattan. According to a recent Syracuse University report, there are 33 veterans for every 1000 people in Manhattan or about 53,000 people in total. Although this is below the national average of 10 percent, the sheer volume would seemingly make it feasible to maintain the requisite 35 members for a VFW post. 

Drake is trying to change this trend. He wants to create a new VFW post by recruiting younger veterans into a Manhattan-based chapter.

“I thought, ‘I can get a bunch of younger veterans together to make sure this keeps going,’” Drake says. “Instead of getting a bunch of vets to join an existing organization, we could just create our own.” 

Drake’s mission to establish a VFW in Manhattan is consistent with his commitment to America’s veterans since leaving active duty. In 2014 he worked at the Iraq and Afghanistan Veteran’s of America (IAVA) organization, a veterans service organization focused on advocacy for the younger generation of veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He then moved on to work at the New York City Mayor’s office combating veteran homelessness in the city. After obtaining his master’s degree, he started his current job at the New York State Department of Financial Services, where he continues to advocate for veterans in New York City. 

While at the Mayor’s Office, he noticed a lack of veterans support organizations in the city with physical spaces for meeting and community building. He had plenty of veteran friends in the city, but no space to unite them. They lacked a central community, and Drake set out to cultivate it. He saw the VFW as a great place to start. 

 “There was an opportunity to create a group with the VFW.” Drake says. “I wanted to make a younger-centric veteran organization and recolonize Manhattan.”   

Drake researched the requirements. He only needed 35 members – an easy task for someone as embedded in veteran circles as Drake. He then contacted the VFW state headquarters in Albany. 

“That’s when I started getting frustrated,” Drake says.

Is it Worth Saving?

“We were all in our monkey suits, so obviously, we had to be on our best behavior.” says Brian Nethery, an Army veteran who saw three combat tours in Iraq. Nethery is referring to his Army dress uniform. 

In 2012 the American Legion Post 754 in New York City hosted the Army Birthday Week Gala. On the balcony of the 12th floor of the elegant New York Athletic Club, partygoers gazed out on Central Park. 

In the balcony seating, attentive listeners gave their undivided attention to the Chief of Staff of the Army, General Ray Odierno, as he told stories and talked about the future of the Army. 

Everyone was on their best behavior. That is, except for Nethery’s friend, Mike. 

At a pause in the conversation, General Odierno opened his uniform jacket and pulled out a plastic bag with two cigars. Mike looked at Brian mischievously, and disappeared into the crowd. 

Nethery, worried as to what his friend might do, saw Mike appear behind the General across the balcony. He tapped the general on the shoulder. 

“Hey Sir, can I have one of those?” Mike said. 

Without missing a beat, the general turned to Mike and said. “Sure, Sergeant, here you go,” and handed him the second cigar.

Nethery joined the American Legion after this experience,  an experience he says epitomizes what organizations like the American Legion and the VFW can provide, and why they are so important. “It’s a world of knowledge from generation to generation.” Nethery says. 

This story also highlights an essential difference between organizations like the American Legion and VFW and new veterans service organizations – a physical space for community. 

“Having a physical space in the community to me is important and is something that more modern veteran service organizations lack,” Drake says.

“The brotherhood and the network we built amongst each other—it helps me deal with experiences from the past,” Nethery says, “and continuously have fellowship with other veterans with similar experiences.” 

For Drake, the VFW’s legacy is special enough to fight to save, despite the similarity to the American Legion. With the American Legion on more stable ground in New York City, Drake sees the VFW as vulnerable, and wants to preserve its history. 

The VFW was founded in 1899 to represent the rights of, and advocate for veterans of the Spanish-American War. In the following century, both the VFW and the American Legion organizations have been pivotal in passing landmark legislation securing veteran’s benefits, including the Montgomery and Post 9/11 GI Bills. 

“It’s been around so long and has developed so much infrastructure – from continuous advocacy in DC, shared history, brand awareness – that I really don’t want to see all of that liquidated.” Drake says. 

Additionally, Drake views starting a VFW from scratch with younger members adds the ability to ensure leadership positions for younger veterans. 

“Having the opportunity for younger veterans to lead chapters in whatever capacity they can gives them buy-in and helps maintain membership,” Drake says. For more established posts, like the American Legion Post in Manhattan and other VFW posts around New York, attaining a leadership role can be difficult for younger members. 

“A couple people I know really stick it out and join the VFW,” Mike said. “It’s difficult for them. They would go for years and it still a ‘wait your turn’ kind of thing.”

The Obstacles

In 2004, Nethery was home on leave from his first combat tour to Iraq. He strolled into the local VFW post. 

He wanted to join. “That’s what I thought you did,” Nethery said. “That’s what my grandfather did. It was just tradition.”

The bar was dimly lit. All the old men turned and looked, suspiciously. It was a cold reception.

“Hi, I’m on R&R from Iraq,” Nethery said. “Here’s my combat action badge, and my deployment orders to Iraq.” 

The men scrutinized his documents as if they might be forged. Eventually, they accepted Nethery as a combat veteran, who like them, was entitled to VFW membership.

“Service in a war, campaign, or expedition on foreign soil or in hostile waters.” This is the requirement for membership to the VFW. 

This one regulation has given Mike Drake a lot of problems. Although a combat veteran himself, many of his friends are not. 

“It turns out that most of my friends had never deployed,” Drake says. “I deployed to Afghanistan as a combat medic, but a lot of my friends that I’d ideally want to spend a lot of time with were not eligible. They were really strict with that rule. “

“It got weird to ask people about the disqualifying factors,” Drake says. At first he had over 50 friends who were interested in joining, but he knew over half had never served in a combat zone. 

The number of veterans fresh from combat roles in Iraq and Afghanistan are decreasing as U.S. involvement diminishes. The decreasing pool of potential new members is exacerbated by the fact that there are far fewer Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans than previous wars.  “Unless the VFW changes their rule on deployments, I think they are going to die out,” Drake says. “It’s just a numbers game. 50 million WWII vets. 20 million Vietnam vets. 10 million Gulf War Vets.”

Only 2.7 million service members have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001. 

In addition to Drake’s issues with scheduling VFW members to attend his initial chapter meetings, he has run into problems when confronted with VFW bureaucratic policies.  For example, VFW chapter bylaws state that each program must conduct a scholarship program for the children of members of the post in high school. According to Drake, this requirement is non negotiable.

However, none of Drake’s recruits had children in high school. 

“If we are all in our 30’s, this is a strange thing for all of us to do,” Drake says. “They were strict about this.”

Way Forward

Jasper Lo is not a combat veteran. A US Army vetearn, Lo served seven years as an armor officer and was stationed in Korea and Texas.  He is one of the many friends Drake would like to include in his attempt to revamp the VFW in New York City but cannot join. 

This restriction does not stop Lo from being an active member of the veteran community in New York City. Lo is a member of a veteran-run community service organization called The Mission Continues and is attempting to build a veteran-affinity organization at his employer, Conde Nast, to help create a more streamlined process for hiring veterans. 

“We are an under-represented population.” Lo says. “I just thought that we need more veterans in media because we just need to be equally represented in all occupations.”

Lo applauds Drake’s efforts to give veterans a stronger voice in New York City. “He is one of those people who has really reached for things to make veterans in New York more powerful,” Lo says. 

While Drake is at an impasse with his VFW plans, he continues his work for veterans in other capacities. Last month he hosted the first ever Veteran’s Day Event at the NY State Department of Financial Services. 

There is currently no organized veterans group in the department. For Drake, this is just another opportunity for him on his mission. 

He continues to push the VFW district leaders to help him set up the new post in Manhattan, while recruiting fellow veterans in New York City. He hopes more recruits will spur the VFW to be more accommodating. 

“I need to figure out the VFW angle,” Drake says. “These things have put a damper on it but I’d really like to see a VFW chapter in Manhattan.”