Rusk VFW closes

It’s unfortunately official.

Members of Rusk’s Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #3406 voted this month to close the organization’s doors.

VFW District 19 Commander Emerson Griffin reported in March, because of dwindling membership, active members of the posts were considering surrendering the post’s charter. Rusk VFW Post #3406 was founded May 28, 1936.

“This is the time for nominations and elections for our post’s governing board,” Griffin said in March. “If we don’t have the members, we can’t get the nominations. If we don’t have any nominations, we can’t hold elections. No elections means nobody’s filling those seats.”

Griffin said the post earlier this year had sent out letters to those qualified to become members of the VFW to try to generate interest in joining but received very little response.

“We’re not getting any younger members and those of us that are already members aren’t getting any younger – we’ve been doing this a long time, and we’re running out of steam,” Post Quartermaster Randy Balogh said. “The younger generations, they got families they’re busy with – I understand, I was the same way just out of Viet Nam. I didn’t join up until my kids were grown. It’s just a big age difference between us and the vets of Afghanistan and Iraq.”

Of the post’s 37 members, only the seven officers attended the March meeting to consider surrendering the post’s charter. The official vote was made in April. Post officials anticipated, if no elections were able to be held at that time, the post’s last operating month would be June.