As traditional veterans organizations like the American Legion and VFW lose members, younger vets are gravitating toward dozens of smaller, more specialized groups that offer a social outlet and opportunity to serve.
Part three of a three part series. Hear and .
Army vet Josh Wheeldon can tick off a half-dozen veterans groups he has volunteered with: , AmeriCorps Vet Corps, , , , and .
He鈥檚 also a lifetime member of the older Veterans of Foreign Wars. But he doesn鈥檛 always feel like he fits in there.
鈥淚 went to a district meeting and I didn't have my VFW hat on,鈥� said the Auburn, Wa. resident. 鈥淚 said, 'I don't want to wear that hat!' 鈥� But that's the culture, right? You got to fit in."
Wheeldon, 32, has a reverence for the VFW and his dad鈥檚 generation of soldiers -- his father was a post commander.
But Wheeldon is typical of younger veterans who are turning to other, newer groups for community. These veterans often feel disconnected from legacy groups like the VFW and the American Legion, which have lost more than a million members in the past 20 years.
For Wheeldon, it was the hat. For other younger vets, it鈥檚 the atmosphere at the local Legion and VFW posts.
鈥淭he American Legion was active in the town I grew up in and it was just a drinking place,鈥� said John Knox, a 32-year-old former Marine originally from Orfordville, Wis. 鈥淜nowing that alcohol abuse and alcoholism are definitely prevalent there鈥� was a turn-off for him.
But Knox still wanted to be around other veterans who knew what it was like to serve in the military. First he joined Iraq Veterans Against the War. Then he discovered a group called Growing Veterans.
The group has nearly 500 members and about 100 regular volunteers who share farmland around Puget Sound and grow crops to sell at farmers markets.
Knox says learning to farm helped him make the transition back to civilian life. The work is physical, and he says that when contrasted with the experience of war, it can be profoundly healing.
For a lot of vets, as the plants grow, walls come down.
鈥淲e get Vietnam veterans coming up saying, 'I wish something like this had been available when I was getting out of the service,'" Knox said. "It鈥檚 the best. It鈥檚 what keeps me coming back really.鈥�
Growing Veterans is one of hundreds of smaller, more specialized veterans groups that weren鈥檛 available to the Vietnam generation or to veterans before them.
Today鈥檚 returning service members often are looking for a more personalized experience, said Seth Messinger, an anthropologist at the Center for Rehabilitation Sciences Research at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland.
鈥淭hese individuals are shopping through groups depending on where they are in their post-service life,鈥� Messinger said.
There are student veterans groups, service organizations, outdoor adventure clubs, a fly-fishing group, one that teaches glass blowing 鈥� all just for veterans. Traditional VFW and Legion posts often don鈥檛 appeal to younger veterans the way a Facebook page and a crowded Google calendar do.
鈥淭he brick and mortar VFW halls may at least initially appear to demand a greater commitment than being able to move from place to place in the online environment,鈥� Messinger said.
Josh Wheeldon left the Army in 2009, but his military identity is still a big part of his life. He said the VFW is a part of American culture he would hate to lose.
But from his office at a south Seattle food bank, he can stay electronically connected with all of the groups he鈥檚 involved in. He says his local VFW post hasn鈥檛 updated its Facebook page since 2011.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an older generation and Facebook isn鈥檛 their thing,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut if you want to learn how to split wood, or go sight a rifle or how to cook a mean chili, these are the guys you talk to.鈥�
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