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Stare Master
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| Okay, not really a military organization but this is probably the best forum for this topic. A lot of you are aware of The Static Line newspaper put out by Don Lassen, a WWII 505th PIR vet. The newspaper contains names and addresses of subscribers, including a couple of pages in the center that breaks it down by state and unit(takes about two years to go through each of the states). It also contains short articles from different associations and photos from reunions, as well as columns and photos sent in by subscribers about their experiences/units. Then every spring Don has an Awards festival in Atlanta which includes a trip and ceremonies at Ft. Benning on Thursday, briefings by the 82nd and 101st CO's(or their designated rep) on Friday and Saturday, a memorial luncheon on Friday and an Awards Banquet Saturday night where the various unit man of the year awards are given out. In the latest issue Don notes that younger vets are not subscribing in sufficient numbers to replace the older vets who are passing away. The newspaper has a lot of vets up through Vietnam, but not many from afterward. Don says that without an increase in vets subscribing he is looking at having to shut down in a couple of years and is looking to get younger vets involved. There are still some problems with getting younger vets involved with this, for instance at the Awards festival the music is still geared toward the older vets. But if enough younger Troopers get involved and begin attending this will change. Don is always willing to consider articles and photos from subscribers, regardless of who they might be. We have a lot of guys who are into military history, particularly Airborne history, and to be able to meet some of these older vets you need to start getting involved now. Attending the Awards banquet are Paratrooper vets from WWII forward, Airborne Rangers, from Korea forward, and SF vets from Vietnam forward. Subscription rates are $35 per year. If you are having a hard time financially Don is willing to take less for a subscription, and those of us that can try to send more to help defray the cost of those that can't. To check out a little of what is in the paper and even subscribe go to the link shown below. It is time for those of us that are younger to get involved in all of these organizations. www.staticlinemagazine.com
Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you, Jesus Christ and the American GI. One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.
"History teaches that when you become indifferent and lose the will to fight someone who has the will to fight will take over." COLONEL BULL SIMONS
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Site Owner/Operator
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| Spent about 2 hrs with Don on the phone as he tries again to get the website in order. Its progressing but I definately suggest at this point to sign up for the physical article. He's really getting concerned about the rate of falloff with the WWII guys but hell, thats what Ive been preaching for a few years with the vets orgs. I dont know what else to tell the younger troopers.. if you're in your 30s and 40s then your sorry ass should belong to at least one good one, if nothing else just to support the organization. The best would be to join and get involved because those of us who step up now are the future leaders. If you want to have a veteran organization later in your life, then step up now and help shape the future of it.
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BS6's Dude
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Seasoned Vet
 
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Good post
sticky307
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Paratrooper
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I couldn't agree more, and I hope the younger Vets get involved before it is too late, but I have my reservations. I think the younger Vets are all tied up in careers, raising families, making a decent living, etc. I was guilty of it. I was out of the Military for 30 years before I joined the 82nd Assoc. That started my re-interest in my Military past, up until then I was too pre-occupied with other things. I don't know the average age of our Assoc Chapter members, but I would venture it is well over 50.
RJ - SCOUTS OUT! 
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Stare Master
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| RJ, that is the excuse they give but excuses have a range of zero meters. The men who started and built the 82nd Association were for the most part in their early- to mid-twenties. They were starting careers and/or college and/or families. There was no one else so they couldn't make excuses, they had to do it themselves. Too many won't even join the Association at all or subscribe to publications like the Static Line. If the younger generation doesn't get involved the sad fact is that some of these things may not be around for their later years. Not only is the WWII generation dying at better than 1,000 a day, but proportionally the Korean War vets are leaving us at about the percentage(there was only a five to ten year difference in their ages), and I am increasingly seeing a lot of Vietnam vets listed in the obituary. We can't wait for our retirement years to get involved and we have to stop allowing younger vets to use that excuse. Mortaman11C has a civilian career, an AF Reserve career(with a base several hundred miles from home), a young family and still manages to serve as an officer of a Chapter(several hundred miles away) and a National Director. Not everyone will be able to make that commitment, but certainly most can find the money to join/subscribe and make some of the events, whether Chapter or National.
Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you, Jesus Christ and the American GI. One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.
"History teaches that when you become indifferent and lose the will to fight someone who has the will to fight will take over." COLONEL BULL SIMONS
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Paratrooper
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Barry, again I agree. However, You cannot get people involved that do not want to be involved. That are too busy to be bothered. I was one on them. I was a 2nd level Manager at Cat. I was totally involved in my Job and family. I was approached to join the Assoc many times, but I just had no interest, it was simply not a priority. I can't begin to count the quality, safety, production, cost cutting, Union, etc. etc. problem meetings, I attended at Cat. But I can tell you, knowing the solution to a problem and actually solving it, are horses of a different color.
RJ - SCOUTS OUT!
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Site Owner/Operator
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| Recon is right, you cant push a rope. If they dont want to be in.. then they arent going to be an active asset, but what they can do is contribute with thier dues and simply stay informed while quietly giving thier support so that one day when they do have time or they decide they might want to get involved its there for them. It is also one the problems facing the veteran organizations that they must make an effort to do a little transformation of thier own and become organizations that understand the next generation and make programs and policies that interest the new troops. The veteran organizations ran for years complacent because they had such a large base of WWII troopers who all had the same attitudes and experiences... there was little thought at all to poll younger members/potentials to find out what new things or changes should be done, now since those little adjustments were not made (in general) the bulk of them are suffering and the only choice are large changes in attitude. I know with the association it appears that a few of us noisy younger troopers are trying to make HUGE changes but in fact we're just trying to put the train back on the tracks and its a big train, we could use a few more of our brothers/sisters to get in here and help grab a side.
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