BRANCH HILL, Ohio — When Air Force veteran Joshua Strausbaugh climbed off his motorcycle and walked into the Branch Hill Veterans of Foreign Wars Post he never expected to hear that they’d be closing their doors.
“There was two members that let us in the building to have our meeting, served us a couple of drinks and then left, and about the second time we met here, they said that they were going to be closing this VFW if we did not sign up and help them out,” Strausbaugh said.
At the time he was a member of the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association. The group held their regular meetings at a variety of VFW posts. This particular visit presented the group with a decision to help out their fellow brothers in arms.
“And that's exactly what we did,” he said.
After getting out of the Air Force, Strausbaugh a former intelligence analyst, found himself shying away from his military service, which included deployments to the Middle East. His work resulted in actionable missions on the ground supporting the War on Terror flying in reconnaissance aircraft and listening in on potential terrorist conversations.
“So we would fly routes and pick up any intel, transmit it down to ground troops and they will use it for various activities,” Strausbaugh said.
VFW Post 5354 isn’t the first post to face closure as membership dwindles for a variety of reasons, some of which are tied to aging veteran populations from World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War as well as lack of interest from some younger veterans from the Gulf War and modern-day Iraq and Afghanistan War.
Back in 2019, WCPO 9 News Anchor Craig McKee looked at the issue of dwindling membership at VFW posts. At the time the National Deputy Director of Membership cited a significant gap between major conflicts and how recent discharged veterans might be more concerned with building their post-service careers and family than enmeshing themselves in a culture of other veterans.
Five years ago, there were 6,160 VFW Posts worldwide. The number today has dropped below 6,000, according to VFW National Headquarters. There are 294 posts remaining in Ohio, 81 in Kentucky and 133 in Indiana.
In some cases over the years, VFW posts that didn’t close joined forces with other veteran-centric organizations to share facility costs and more.
Another factor that has played a role in younger veterans’ unwillingness to join is the perception that the VFW bar is a smoke-filled room where combat veterans sit around and tell war stories.
“We don’t do that,” said Strausbaugh, pointing out that smoking is strictly outdoors.
The stories of military service will clearly remain as it’s the common bond the men and women share. Both Strausbaugh and Garrett said they want the post to remain a very family-friendly environment.
“When I was about 5 or 6 years old, my uncle was commander here,” said Charles Garrett, who served in the Army and was the first commander of VFW Post 5354 after the group took over.
His childhood memories were part of the driving force to hold onto the post for all the families in the area.
“I had kids at a time when I wanted them to, you know, be able to experience the memories of coming here fishing and stuff like that,” Garrett said.
The post sits on a 15-acre chunk of land that allows for hunting, fishing in their pond and camping. All of those features are available to paying members.
There’s also a gun range for paying members to use and the VFW Post has certified range officials within their membership to monitor its use.
There is some public access as well from the special events hosted throughout the year, the use of its soccer field by Loveland Youth Soccer Leagues and the ability to rent out the field and their facility for weddings and other special events.
The other more dramatic twist over the eight years has been the change on who can belly up to the bar and have a cold one to support the veterans within the post, the public.
“I think all of us unanimously were like, yeah, we got to open up to the public because that's the only way it's going to bring money,” Garrett said.
He says it was the one way they knew they could ensure the viability of the post. He says membership is up within the veteran membership and social memberships as well.
As for any advice to other VFW post leaders who may see this story, Garrett said they should keep an open mind about potential change.
“The VFW is supposed to be a place that helps the community not just other veterans,” Garrett said. “It may be scary opening doors up to the public because now you're just like any other bar, but it's still a membership. You're not giving away your private club mentality, you're just opening it up to more people to bring in more money.”
The Branch Hill Ohio VFW Post 5354 is located at 6653 Epworth Road, Loveland, Ohio. If you have questions about membership or reserving the facility for an event you can email them directly at vfw5354@gmail.com or visit them on their Facebook page.
If you have a veteran story to tell in your community, email homefront@wcpo.com. You also can join the Homefront Facebook group, follow Craig McKee on Facebook and find more Homefront stories here.
