PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) posts in Philadelphia and throughout Pennsylvania are becoming another casualty of COVID-19.
Ron Peters, commander of the VFW Department of Pennsylvania, said coronavirus lockdowns put many VFW posts in financial jeopardy, unable to meet their fraternal and charitable missions.
“Some of the VFWs have kind of developed a reputation over time of just being a place where old soldiers go to drink, smoke cigarettes and tell war stories,” he said. “We put out in our state probably close to $8 million a year that we donate to charity.”
Some posts, he conceded, are now just trying to stay afloat.
“When they shut you down and you don’t have the income coming in, the bills are still there,” said Peters. “I mean, you still got to pay your electric, your gas, your telephone bill, your cable bill. They don’t back off. They want their money.”
Members have also been barred from participating in funerals and color guards for veterans who have died in the past year, including a number of victims of COVID-19.
However, some posts are getting creative in honoring their fallen comrades, including one recent case where a surviving sister was presented with a flag and recognized for her brother’s service.
“He passed away from COVID in a nursing home this past winter,” Peters said, “but we got together at a restaurant. We got it done and we honored that veteran like it should be.”
In the coming year, Peters foresees consolidations among the more than 440 posts in the state. But he’s optimistic, he said, because a generation of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are joining and bringing new ideas and new leadership to the organization.