![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.theclarion.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/VFWLogo-1024x322.png\")
<\/strong><\/p>\nMe to Fred\/Joe\/Mary<\/strong>, Aren\u2019t you a combat veteran and have you considered joining the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 6073 here in Scottsboro?<\/em><\/p>\n Fred\/Joe\/Mary reply<\/strong>: Yes I am a combat veteran, I served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, but I don\u2019t want to join the VFW because they are just a munch of old guys who sit around in a smoky hall, smoking, drinking beer and telling war stories.<\/em><\/p>\n My reply:\u00a0 <\/strong>Your reply is very interesting but I am afraid you have been very much mis-informed<\/u>.\u00a0 Let me explain.\u00a0 To qualify to join the VFW, you have to have served overseas in a combat environment, going all the way back to WWII, so you will qualify \u2013 and oh by the way, thank you for your service.\u00a0 But everything else you believe is completely wrong.\u00a0 Our VFW Post does not have a bar (canteen), we do not allow smoking or drinking of alcohol, and we are much too busy working various programs to sit around telling war stories.\u00a0 As you well know, most combat veterans do not want to talk about their service and the rest of us usually aren\u2019t interested in listening to much more than \u201cwhen did you serve, in what branch and what oversea theater were you in\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n So why join the VFW?<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 Here are just a few of the reasons you should join.\u00a0 When you serve in the military, you establish a brotherhood<\/u> with your fellow combatants unlike anything on the outside.\u00a0 Once you separate, the VFW offers you a new<\/u> brotherhood <\/u>and support team that continues even after your death.\u00a0 \u00a0We can help you navigate through the wickets to ensure you are getting all of your VA benefits.\u00a0 The VFW has lengthy list of benefits you would qualify for like transition to civilian life assistance, life insurance, discounts on a lot of things, travel services, entertainment, financial and medical services, student veteran assistance, metal wellness services, youth and education programs, \u00a0troop support, and end of life service and support for your family.\u00a0 Our VFW Post has been the driving force behind the development of the Veterans Memorial Park of Jackson Count, we have a rifle\/pistol range for members, we build wheel chair and decks for disabled veterans in need, we provide funeral\/grave side flag folding and play taps, we follow up with widows and finally your membership will add to the half a million members that get serious attention when we go the Hill.\u00a0 But more meaningful, through your help with our support programs, community service projects and support to other veterans in need, you will get the self-satisfaction you are making a real difference in our community.\u00a0 The VFW prides itself in its motto, No- one takes care of Veterans better than the VFW<\/u>.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em>So how do you join?<\/strong>\u00a0 On Saturday, 7 March<\/strong>, from 0730 to 1200 hours<\/strong>, members of Post 6073 will host a membership forum<\/strong> at the Jackson County Fairgrounds (across the street from Collins School), and we would like to invite every veteran who has serviced overseas<\/strong> to stop by and see if you qualify, get answers to any questions you might have, and help you sign up.\u00a0 If you are unable to make that date\/time, call me and I will be happy to meet with you at your convenience.\u00a0 If you can bring your DD214, we will only need a few minutes.\u00a0 \u00a0Jim Blackburn, 256-244-4476, Senior Vice Commander<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dear Veteran, if the first part of this could have been a conversation between you and I, please read on.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1099"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1099\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1104,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1099\/revisions\/1104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}