Burn Those VFW Membership Cards

Duty. Honor. Country. Apparently, the VFW no longer abides by the very virtues our veterans lived and died by.

Last week, I wrote a piece on BlackFive.net on the VFW-PAC and their selections across the country for endorsing candidates in various races. When the list first came out, it didn’t make much of an impact; but when some mail lists started spreading it around the Internet it caught fire. Especially when it was noticed that in some key races they had endorsed non-veterans over some highly qualified veterans from within their own organization.

Bev Perlson, of Band Of Mothers, sent me a copy of the list, highlighting that the VFW was endorsing Ron Klein of FL over LTC (r) Allan West in the 22d district race. LTC West, a hero from Iraq, and a member of the local VFW, is leading in the polls for that race. Yet, here they were, the VFW going with the incumbent, non-serving, Democrat in the race. Worse, the Weekly Standard reports:

Klein has supported defense authorization bills, and most recently he’s voted against limiting funding for the war in Afghanistan. But the record shows Klein voted against funding for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq back in 2008, voted for withdrawal timetables in 2007, and voted for the House concurrent resolution in 2007 which expressed disapproval of the Iraq War surge.

For many, that was the last straw in a series of gaffs the VFW has been doing since the Obama administration began. Early in the administration, Obama proposed cutting 540m from the budget by requiring military and veterans to pay for healthcare; VFW weakly supported it while every other vets organization soundly trounced it. Followed by the DHS letter that was leaked, where it stated veterans were a potential source of terrorism. There again, other veterans groups pounded the administration for it while the VFW did nothing.

The postings on BlackFive and ThisAintHell as well as others ignited a firestorm among VFW members who began calling the National Headquarters in record numbers, demanding an explanation and returning their membership cards. I, as a lifetime member of the VFW ever since I returned from Iraq, have renounced my membership, and asked that others do the same. Some people were asking that we just ‘take back’ the VFW; problem is, that is not likely to happen. The current leadership is too entrenched, and the process too long to do that. The ONLY way to effect any change is via their pocketbook- period. Resign, drain their coffers of member dues, and they’ll change far quicker.

For example, after the articles appeared and the pressure got on, the Florida Commander issued a press release which was a copy of the letter to the VFW-PAC leader, stating:

“…the selection process adopted by the PAC will have both lasting and negative consequences on our ability to recruit and retain members in the Department of Florida. It is evident from the tone of the received emails that the VFW-PAC and by association the Veterans of Foreign Wars is not sewing the interests of some members and potential members. This regional firestorm could have been avoided if the PAC board and staff remembered the old adage that all politics are local.”

So what did the National-level VFW do? They put out this:

“Even though the law requires that VFW-PAC be a separate organization, the acronym ‘VFW’ is attached to the committee and the natural assumption is that the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States is somehow making the endorsement decisions. Nothing could be further from the truth, but perception is reality,” said National Commander Richard Eubank.

“Because of the controversy surrounding the endorsements, VFW line officers have decided to bring the question of continued existence of the PAC to the floor during the 112th VFW national convention in August.”

Notice, they didn’t try to address what the issue is RIGHT NOW- they just punted it down the road nearly a year later! This problem needs addressing NOW- not thru some committee that will white-wash it, and hope that it is forgotten next year during an off-year election season.

No VFW- when you have ‘command issues’ you need to address them TODAY. Apparently, they don’t have the stones to do so. I’m calling for the resignation of the National Commander of both the VFW and the VFW-PAC today.

Worse yet, the NJ VFW puts out this garbage, trying to justify their process (and it’s not even a correct representation of what the current process actually is):

“Each state/department does their own endorsements for both the state and national representatives/senators/assemblymen, etc. The National Organization also has a PAC and they receive the inputs from each state PAC. The Political Action Committee in New Jersey takes the input from the State VFW Legislative Committee, the State Commander and his staff of officers and compiles the list of those legislators that have done the most for the veterans not only here in New Jersey but supported the bills in Washington that have been introduced concerning Veterans issues. John Adler who is a congressman from New Jersey that has been a veterans advocate long before he was elected to congress. He was a State Legislator before his district elected him to go to Washington. I presented him with our VFW Federal Legislator of the Year award this past June at our state convention. Here in New Jersey we keep a score card [sic] on each Assemblyman, State Senator, our Congressmen and Senators in Washington. These legislators know about the score card because we publish it so that all of the voters in New Jersey can be educated/informed voters when comes time to re-elect these folks. We only grade them on Veterans Issues and concerns. Most Veterans issues and concerns effect [sic] other bills in the state so it is a very effective tool for all of New Jersey residents. Our scorecard is being evaluated and refined so that the National Political Action Committee of the VFW will have a better understanding of which Congressmen and Senators are supporting Veterans issues and those that are only talking a good story. I can only speak for the legislators that we endorsed in New Jersey and they are all strong Veterans Advocates.”

This info was from a contact in NJ that was re-posted into the comments of Blackfive. There are two glaring, horrific problems with this statement- first, that this was the process. IT WASN’T. I know this after corresponding with Steve Valley, former All-American Post Commander and Senior Vice Commander in Florida. Steve tells me:

1. There was no process. The VFW PAC did not engage its leadership on the State or local level to gauge the candidates with the veterans they will represent. Decisions and endorsements like these will have a dramatic effect on local posts and that in turn will have a severe effect on local membership and the VFW is nothing, if not for its membership.2. I know that the PAC endorsed the right candidate in my District, Congressman Vern Buchanan. However, when Lt. Col. Alan West, a Florida Congressional candidate a war veteran and fellow VFW member, is overlooked for endorsement, it is a major embarrassment to the organization for which its main goal is to support our fellow veterans.3. Each state has its own Legislative Affairs Committee members that are deeply involved with legislative issues on the local and state arena. The VFW PAC should have involved these professionals in the process before any VFW endorsements were made. It’s a slap in the face that the Washington, DC based PAC made endorsements without obtaining the perspective and feelings of the people (veterans) that the politicians will actually represent.

   4. The VFW has to evolve to survive. The younger veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are not the same veteran that came back from Vietnam. We’re not interested in all of the drinking and smoking that the stereotypically describes most VFW Posts. My personal feeling is that the VFW National Leadership and VFW PAC is completely out of touch with its membership. Every year there’s a new membership push, a better legislative agenda, etc., but most members don’t even know who the National Commander is or what the VFW PAC is. All we know is that the PAC sends out numerous mailings in search of donations and that the National Commander writes a column in the monthly VFW Magazine.

The second, more disgusting part of what NJ writes is this: they awarded Congressman John Adler with ‘Legislator of the Year’?? This was a joke, right? Wait, this is NJ. Why is Cong. Adler so despicable? I think the better question is, why would the VFW endorse/award him- he was recently linked to putting a fake TEA Party operative into the race between he and Jon Runyan. Again, Adler has NO prior military experience, is Democrat, and is accused of doing anything to maintain his position. Do we see a pattern emerging?

The National VFW says that the PAC has little to do with the ‘regular’ VFW, yet it’s members appear in the national magazine, they post the selections the PAC makes, and allow candidates to put in their print materials that they were ‘endorsed by the VFW’.

It’s very apparent that the VFW has no intention of ‘fixing’ this debacle anytime soon. We, as veterans, learned early that if your command has issues, you fix it right then, right there. You relieve people- you right your ship. To do otherwise, especially in times of conflict, imperils every member of the unit.

Burn and return your membership cards.

Your Duty, your Honor, you Country demands no less.