海角大神

In the up-and-coming heart of a neighborhood that boasts a cross-fit gym, a sushi restaurant, and several modern art galleries, the door of the nation鈥檚 first聽Veterans of Foreign Wars post is open for yoga class.聽

The instructor, Marine veteran Sarah Plummer Taylor, tells her cross-legged students that while they close their eyes, she鈥檒l keep hers open, to watch the room 鈥� a nod to those grappling with post-traumatic stress.聽

鈥淚 imagine we also have a lot of members of the tight hamstring club,鈥� she says, as she takes the class through a gentle series of poses.聽

鈥淭hat would be an affirmative,鈥� says Alan Norton, a Vietnam vet gamely endeavoring a downward-facing dog in jeans and a short-sleeve button-up shirt.

The former commander of VFW Post 1, Mr. Norton recalls the years when the post drew very few young people 鈥� very few members at all, for that matter.聽

Now the post attracts scores of Iraq and Afghanistan-era vets, who come for classes on yoga, meditation, and a host of other offerings. "Word鈥檚 getting out about Post 1,鈥� Norton says.

For her part, Brittany Bartges tried to join the VFW once. She never thought she鈥檇 try again.聽

A former intelligence specialist in Iraq, she had to apply for two waivers to enlist in the Army: one for her height (4鈥�10鈥欌��) and one for the trouble she got into as a self-described 鈥渂ad kid.鈥澛�

鈥淢y parents were cool people, but they had their own struggles,鈥� she says.

Occasionally sleeping in laundromats and parks, Ms. Bartges used the services at a homeless shelter to get her GED. After being promoted in basic training, Bartges deployed to Iraq during the height of the surge.

When she returned with her infantry division after 15 months of war, she was excited to join the VFW. 鈥淚 knew that there was camaraderie there.鈥�

But she wasn鈥檛 on the receiving end of that fellowship. What she discovered was 鈥渘ot the most friendly people,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey see a female and assume you鈥檙e there to meet your boyfriend, or trying to hook up with a soldier.鈥�

鈥淗ow do I show I belong here?鈥� she wondered. 鈥淒o I belong here? Maybe,鈥� she thought, 鈥淚 shouldn鈥檛 have to work so hard.鈥澛�

Steak nights and wood paneling

It鈥檚 the same question that young American soldiers of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars 鈥� men and women alike 鈥� have been asking themselves for the past decade-plus, veteran service organization officials acknowledge.聽

The vets report feeling 鈥渁wkward鈥� at best, unwelcome at worst, at posts whose hallmark has long been steak nights, bingo, bars, and no shortage of wood paneling.聽

That widespread feeling has resulted in plunging membership for vets organizations nationwide. Even with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan waged in the past 14 years, membership in the VFW has decreased by roughly half. 聽

During the same period of time, one out of four VFW posts has been forced to close its doors.

VFW Post 1 was among those casualties. It, too, was forced to shutter and sell its building, at a time when it could rarely pull together a quorum of five members for meetings. Now that number has risen nearly 20-fold, to 93 attendees last month.

This matters to communities that want to welcome veterans back home after their service, but are uncertain how to do it.聽

That uncertainty is the result of a growing civil-military divide, in a country that has fought two wars in the past 14 years with less than 1 percent of the population. When those veterans return, they occasionally struggle with post-military life: One in two veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan say that they know a fellow service member who has attempted or committed suicide, according to a Washington Post-Kaiser Health poll.

鈥淛ust imagine if that veteran had a support system in place like the local Post to offer assistance, mentorship, or friendship,鈥� says Les Davis, a national recruiter with the AMVETS a veteran service organization (VSO).

These organizations often help create partnerships within communities, to help with everything from r茅sum茅 writing to offering fellowship.

Yet on the fellowship front, many VSOs haven鈥檛 been garnering rave reviews.

In late 2014, the VFW national commander reprimanded his affiliates in an open letter, writing that he was 鈥渆xtremely disturbed鈥� by reports that the organization 鈥渋s comprised of old and out of touch veterans who would rather drink in a dimly lit canteen than open their doors to our younger veterans.鈥澛�

He encouraged the posts to 鈥渃hange their operational tactics to better reflect the modern crises younger veterans are facing on their new 鈥榖attlefield鈥� 鈥� the home front.鈥�

VFW Post 1 Commander Michael Mitchel concurred. When he joined Post 1 back in 2002, there were rarely enough vet attendees for a quorum. In 2007, the post was forced to sell its chapter building due to lagging membership.

After wandering homeless for nearly a decade, the post was able to buy the space it occupies today 鈥� minus the canteen.

鈥淲hat attracted me to it was that it wasn鈥檛 a locked door and a big parking lot like most VFWs,鈥� he adds. 鈥淚t was storefront. We were part of the community, whether we liked it or not.鈥�

Today Post 1 is endeavoring to remake itself for a new generation of veterans, offering yoga, meditation, child care, and most important, members here say, a strong connection to community that can help break down the civilian-military divide.

The Post has dropped the old canteen model, and is focusing on renting out the bright and airy space for community events, like weddings, as a means of making money. 鈥淥ften, the VFW has a bad reputation because of that dark bar stereotype,鈥� says Mitchel. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 want that.鈥澛�

The hopes for a new way forward have exceeded their expectations, he says. 鈥淲e had an idea of what this community could be like, but it鈥檚 blown me away. There has been such a pent-up demand for what we do.鈥�

'Oh, I just thought it would be war art'

The veterans see this demand during "First Friday鈥� art events every month, when the galleries that surround the post open their doors to the community.

The space is lined with paintings, photographs, and sculptures, including one giant Transformer-like robot behind a glass pane, an ode to PTSD.

The night can draw upward of 1,500 people. 鈥淵ou hear people say, 鈥極h, this is the veterans gallery, we have to go in,鈥� 鈥� says Jim Stevens, the post鈥檚 art director. 鈥淥nce they come in, I love to hear them say, 鈥極h, I just thought it would be war art.鈥� 鈥�

A Special Forces soldier tasked with rescuing prisoners of war, Mr. Stevens recalls one of the 鈥渂est days of my life鈥� in Vietnam, when he found the missing lieutenant colonel he鈥檇 been tracking for three days. 鈥淗e鈥檇 been shot down, and I snuck in and got him 鈥� kicked his cage door open 鈥� and there were two captains with him. It was like, jackpot!鈥�

Stevens survived a gunshot to the head, only to be blinded more than 20 years later by the aftereffects.

Though in many programs, 鈥淚t鈥檚 art as rehabilitation,鈥� that was not Stevens鈥檚 aim at Post 1. 聽

鈥淲e鈥檝e been pretty up front with folks saying, 鈥榊our art may be rehabilitation for you, but that鈥檚 not what we want you here for,鈥� 鈥� he says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not saying you鈥檙e here because you have a disability. We're saying you鈥檙e here because you鈥檙e an artist.鈥澛�

Mitchel would like to see writing festivals, plays, poetry slams, and music concerts. There鈥檚 already a culinary arts offering, in the form of a rooftop beehive for artisanal VFW honey.

It鈥檚 a long way from the homeless years, but that time helped drive the post to develop many of the programs it currently offers, says Bartges, now Senior Vice Commander at Post 1. The lack of a bar, or even a building, 鈥渁llowed us to focus on networks to better support vets.鈥澛�

It is that kind of innovation that veterans today desperately need, says Les Davis, a national recruiter for AMVETS (American Veterans), a veterans鈥� service organization with some 250,000 members.聽

Hired by the organization to figure out why so few Iraq and Afghanistan war vets are joining VSOs, Mr. Davis 鈥� who was an Army truck driver supporting a tank company during the First Gulf War 鈥� set out to visit various American Legion and VFW posts across the country.

Whether he was in Wyoming or Kansas, Maryland or Florida, he ran headlong into some troubling common denominators.

鈥淚鈥檇 walk in, sit at the bar and order a Coke, and nobody would even say a word to me. Everyone is huddling over their drinks, not welcoming me, kind of making me feel like I don鈥檛 belong here,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hat happened again and again and again.

鈥淚鈥檇 ask my vet buddies, 鈥楧o you guys ever get this?鈥� And everyone said they did.鈥�

That was surprising to Davis, considering the stories he often heard of the Vietnam-era vets who felt rejected by the World War II vets before them.聽

鈥淲hen they came back, they鈥檇 try to go into the VFW and the American Legion and they鈥檇 hear, 鈥榊ou don鈥檛 belong here鈥攜ou didn鈥檛 win your war.鈥� 鈥�

Vets today want a place where they could feel welcome to do their homework, drop their child off for daycare, and maybe avail themselves of some exercise equipment, Davis says. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 want a smoke-filled bar. They want a community center.鈥澛�

'We're not joining the VFW 鈥� we're joining Post 1'

And that is just what is bringing in the members to Post 1, a development VFW national leadership is closely tracking, says Mitchel.

鈥淭here鈥檚 some buzz. You ask people, 鈥榃hy did you come to this meeting鈥� and they say, 鈥業 heard something was happening and I needed to come check it out.鈥� 鈥�

The culture they are discovering is so unlike what they have come to associate with the VFW that they routinely tell Mitchel, 鈥淲e鈥檙e not joining the VFW 鈥� we鈥檙e joining Post 1.鈥�

Indeed, within the larger VFW there have been fears of marginalization in the wake of modernization.聽

The Ladies Auxiliary had their concerns. Some of the husbands of the female veterans 鈥� who now make up roughly 15 to 20 percent of VFW members 鈥� were interested in joining.

鈥淚 really wanted to be a part of it 鈥� I wanted to help,鈥� says Keith Runyan, Bartges鈥� husband.聽

Yet the Auxiliary was initially resistant to the idea. 鈥淚 think the big concern is that the men would come in and take it over 鈥� that they wouldn鈥檛 go along with our ideas,鈥� says Marsha Harrison, president of the VFW Post 1 Ladies Auxiliary.

鈥淭hey took a lot of pride in the fact that the Auxiliary was women built and women run 鈥� they had a civic voice where they couldn鈥檛 have one before,鈥� adds Bartges. 鈥淵ou could see why there was such a big pushback."

It was pushback that John Harry anticipated. As a gay veteran, he had never considered joining the VFW.聽

But Post 1 president Mitchel reached out, sponsoring events for gay veterans rights groups and convincing Mr. Harry to join the post.聽

At the national convention, however, Harry recalls a conversation with a state Ladies鈥� Auxiliary president, who asked whether he had a girlfriend.
鈥淚 laughed and said no, and then she asked me if I had any sisters鈥� 鈥� who are also eligible to join. 鈥淚 said yes, but they are fairly young and they live in Arkansas.鈥�

She told him that as a VFW member, he needed to do his part to help the Ladies鈥� Auxiliary grow.

鈥淪o I said to her, 鈥極K, riddle me this: The face of vets is changing, and we have more and more women. Why don鈥檛 you welcome the men?鈥� 鈥�

In August, the VFW dropped the 鈥淟adies鈥� from Auxiliary, opening up the organization to men nationwide. Roughly 12,000 spouses of female and gay vets have become members in the seven months since.

Mr. Runyan is one of them.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 going to be great getting sons, brothers, fathers 鈥� all these people in there that can give different perspectives on how to get things done.鈥�

And despite some resistance, Post 1 has pushed for gay rights, support that has seeped into the culture of the post. Last month, Harry was nominated to be executive director of Post 1.聽

For her part, Bartges recalls a recent membership meeting, after leaders had taken part in an ad campaign supporting gay vets.聽

鈥淭his old-school Vietnam-era vet 鈥� he looked like a biker guy 鈥� stood up and said, 鈥業 saw a commercial this week,鈥� 鈥� Bartges said, adding that she figured things were about to get ugly.

鈥淚nstead he said, 鈥業 just want to say how proud I am of our members for doing that.鈥� I almost cried. I thought, 鈥楾his is my post.鈥� 鈥�

Correction: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Keith Runyan's name and to reflect that John Harry has been nominated to be executive director of Post 1.