Jasper VFW to downsize to remain on mission
In recognition of national trends with new memberships as well as the passing on of its original members, the Jasper VFW has put its 1907 Newton Street building up for sale.
With a current membership at about 430, the VFW has recognized the need to tighten its budget by selling the building and moving to a new or existing smaller building.
The building on Newton built around 1900 was purchased by the VFW in 1945. After World War II, membership swelled to about 1,200. Time has had its toll on the post as those original members have passed away. These days, only 28 WW II veterans remain as members at the Jasper post.
The majority of the membership is now comprised of Vietnam and Korean War veterans but those numbers are falling rapidly and veterans of the more recent conflicts aren’t replacing those dwindling lifelong members.
According to one local veteran who served in Afghanistan, many younger veterans are interested in doing things together and the image of older veterans sitting at a bar is a turnoff.
A new chapter of the national organization Team Red, White and Blue has formed locally and is attracting veterans and their support networks to take part in sports activities together. Sponsored by Nike, the organization is attempting to capture the comradeship that many veterans lose after exiting the military.
The VFW has a different mission though.
According to Jasper Post Commander Dan Beck, the impact of the dwindling numbers will be felt in the loss of programs supporting veterans after they return from combat. “The main purpose of the VFW is as a lobbying organization to ensure veterans keep their benefits,” Beck said.
The services the VFW provides are essential not only as procuring benefits for the returning veterans of war, but also in educating local veterans as to what those benefits are.
“Young soldiers don’t understand all of their benefits,” Beck said.
He gave an example of a recent encounter he had with a young disabled veteran at a Veterans Affairs Clinic. While speaking with the veteran, Beck learned he had a young child. “I said do you know that if you are a disabled veteran in the state of Indiana, the state will give you child 124 credit hours of free tuition at any state supported school,” Beck told the veteran.
“That is one of the things we fought for,” he added.
Beck served two tours in Vietnam in the Army and then retired as a command master sergeant after 23 years in the Indiana National Guard.
He understands that the younger veterans stance about the VFW. “They say they like to do projects,” Beck said. “I’m 69 and this is my third time as commander and our average member’s age is 70-plus. If they want to come in and take command and look at some projects, that would be perfectly fine with us.”
In the meantime though, the post command has decided the best route for the future is to sell the 9,465 square foot building to downsize to a less expensive building. The sale of the building will finance that move.
However the dwindling memberships aren’t unique to Jasper; Huntingburg and Ferdinand’s posts have also been impacted. Huntingburg’s membership is around 200 and Ferdinand is nearly 60. The leadership at these three posts have met to discuss the future in which all three were combined into a single Dubois County VFW post.
According to Beck, that question is something that will be addressed down the road. He pointed out the difficulties to combine the posts. The pride each VFW has in its identity as an independent post as well as its ties to the community are factors that will likely have to be overcome if that route is to be considered.
“No one wants to lose their identity,” he said.
For now the VFW will be accepting bids on the building until Friday, Sept. 16. Anyone interested in the facility on Newton Street can call Beck at 812-639-8813.
Once the building sells, the VFW board will decided whether to use the proceeds to build a new space or purchase an existing building in Jasper.
