Morgan Hill – Today marks the 50th anniversary of the city’s Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4112, a once thriving group that’s shrunk considerably over the years to just a few active members.
In fact, members of the group were surprised when contacted by The Times with the news of the golden anniversary.
“I didn’t know about it,” said Morgan Hill resident Eddie Bowers, a Vietnam War veteran who helped establish a memorial downtown for local service men and women.
Even the group’s commander, 90-year-old Bud Flaherty, wasn’t aware of the special day. Actually, it’s not his fault. While the national VFW office had sent out a press release, no one had bothered to tell the post’s leader.
But even if the VFW wanted to throw a party, it would have a hard time attracting as much attention as it used to in Morgan Hill. For one reason or another, the group’s profile has declined since its heyday in the 1960s.
“It was a good group,” said Flaherty, a World War II veteran who joined the post in 1964. “About 40 people showed up regularly. We used to play cards, dice and everything.”
VFWs commonly fund community service groups and youth scholarship programs. For many years, the local post held fundraisers where the members would sell corn dogs, but not anymore.
“The younger guys didn’t want to take it over,” Flaherty said, adding the group has about 60 members but only five are active today. “There’s too many things going on these days … people are working, married, their kids are playing soccer … years ago there weren’t as many things to do.”
Despite how the post’s role in the community has changed, its national leaders still say the anniversary deserves to be recognized.
“It is a big event for a VFW post to be part of a community for 50 years,” said Jerry Newberry, director of communications for VFW’s national headquarters in Washington, D.C. “It is an important milestone, 50 years of dedicated service to the community and our nation’s veterans.”
The VFW is the nation’s oldest combat veterans’ organization. Founded in 1899, the organization advocates on behalf of the nation’s veterans, its military and their families. The group lobbies on Capitol Hill and draws grassroots support from more than 9,000 posts nationwide.
“We have a voice on Capitol Hill, but without the driving force of the grassroots members it wouldn’t do us any good,” Newberry said.
Nationally, the group continues to grow, but demographics in some communities – such as Morgan Hill – have caused some posts to shrink.
“Each post is unique,” Newberry said. “I’m sure for every community like (Morgan Hill), there’s a post somewhere else that’s growing.”
Flaherty said there’s hope for the group to grow.
“There’s a lot of vets in Morgan Hill that haven’t signed up and we’d like to get them,” he said. “If 30 or 40 people showed up, it would be just right.”
