As I published earlier, I’ve left the VFW. I can’t be party to an organization that endorses anti-military representatives and Senators like Harry Reid and Barbara Boxer, among many others. I sent emails and made phone calls to the leaders of VFW-PAC for issuing the endorsements which Reid is using to try and bolster his street cred in supporting the military (as if we’d forget his “this war is lost” comments!). The response I got was less than encouraging, to say the least.

Well, a little bit of good news has surfaced now that VFW is feeling the heat in both membership loss and revenue. John W. Stroud is a candidate for the VFW office of National Junior Vice Commander-in-Chief in 2012. He sends the following encouraging email reference this whole debacle:

Good Afternoon Comrades;

I just received a personal telephone call from VFW Commander-in-Chief, Richad Eubank. The Chief asked me to let all of the comrades in Nevada know the most recent action he has taken regarding the PAC endorsements. He has asked me to give this message the widest dissemination, so please forward this message on to any in your Nevada address book that you may not see here.

In light of Senator Reid’s misleading claim during the debate on Wednesday night that he had been endorsed by the VFW, the Chief wanted you to know this latest information:

The Commander-in-Chief, Senior Vice Commander-in-Chief, and Junior Vice Commander-in-Chief had requested the VFW Political Action Committe (PAC) to rescind their endorsements as they were not the voices of the VFW membership and the ramifications from these endorsements by the PAC were having a detrimental effect on our organization.

Unfortunately, the leaders of the PAC refused to honor the C-in-C request, and did not rescind the endorsements. Yesterday, Friday, October 15, the Commander-in-Chief revoked all of the appointments to the PAC. Effective immediately, the PAC is a memberless committee, whose fate will be decided at the National Convention in San Antonio, next August.

I urge each and every one of you reading this to send a brief message by email to info@vfw.org Get it on record that you support the decision of the Commander-in-Chief to put the voice of the members first and foremost. In the message, make sure that you note that you are from Nevada and that you appreciate him standing firm that the membership voice will be heard above that of a committee. THIS IS YOUR VFW!

We need to get this issue behind us so we can get back to the business of supporting our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, Veterans and their families, our communities and youth.

Yours in Comradeship,

John W. Stroud
Candidate, National Junior Vice Commander-in-Chief, 2012
Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States

I’m personally glad to see that the VFW leadership is taking action with respect to this, but it sure does seem a little late. Why did it take an angry membership to see what a stupid idea this was? Why did it take the Ladies Auxilliary pulling its funding from the VFW-PAC to wake up? Why is the response that the VFW does not have anything to do with the VFW-PAC? Look at this picture and tell me if you see the VFW represented or the VFW-PAC:

That is from Barbara Boxer’s own website where she notes she is “proud to have received the endorsement of the Veterans of Foreign Wars PAC.” She may be the only one. Harry Reid was also happy (and probably a little surprised) to learn he was also endorsed:

“I am so honored and grateful to have the support of our nation’s heroes in this campaign. America’s veterans have risked their lives in service to our country and I will continue working to honor their sacrifice by ensuring we never break our nation’s promise to those in uniform.

“That’s why I secured the funding to bring a new state-of-the-art VA Hospital to southern Nevada, passed the 21st Century GI Bill of Rights to give all our veterans the opportunity to go to college, and am working to ensure disabled veterans receive every dime owed them.”

His website even insinuates that this endorsement is supported by the VFW’s 2.1 million members.

“According to Federal Law, the Veterans of Foreign Wars cannot legally endorse candidates. Therefore, the VFW Political Action Committee was incorporated in 1979 and provides the 2.1 million members of the VFW, its auxiliaries and their families with an opportunity to collectively support candidates for federal office who support our nations’ veterans and America’s security.”

Maybe the PAC should actually LISTEN to those 2.1 million members and ask their opinions before endorsing anyone in the future! Of course, the next time there may be fewer than 2.1 million!

[Author's Note: The OPINIONS expressed here are solely those of the author and do not represent those of any agency of the United States Government, expressly including, but not limited to, the Department of Defense or the United States Army. This site is not designed, authorized, sanctioned, or affiliated, by or with, any agency of the United States Government, expressly including, but not limited to, the Department of Defense or the United States Army. This post is in accordance with DODD 1344.10, which expressly permits me to "express a personal opinion on political candidates and issues, but not as a representative of the Armed Forces." Therefore, I hereby declare that I do not write this post as a representative of the Armed Forces. Since I no longer own this site, consider this post also in compliance with the provisions of paragraph 4.1.1.6 of DODD 1344.10.]