At the precise moment that retired U.S. Navy captain and fighter pilot Scott Kelly joined the John S. Stewart Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1 in Denver, he was floating in a vehicle traveling at 17,500 mph in outer space along an orbital path at a distance of approximately 250 miles from planet Earth.
When Kelly—twin brother of fellow astronaut and U.S. Senator Mark Kelly—took the VFW Post 1 membership oath on the evening of Dec. 15, 2015, he was Commander Scott Kelly, an astronaut employed by the U.S. government and living and working on the International Space Station. He was eight months into his year-long assignment.
Kelly’s swearing-in was a feature of VFW Post 1’s 116th Founders Banquet held at Denver’s Brown Palace Hotel, a few blocks from the post’s headquarters in Denver’s Art District on Santa Fe.
A full house of veterans, active-duty service members, and others watched via video link as Kelly looked at the camera and said: “Here among the stars from the International Space Station, and with everyone at this evening’s dinner, I, Scott Kelly, do on my own free will and accord, join Veterans of Foreign Wars John S. Stewart Post 1.”
The membership ceremony was more than a bit peculiar and exciting.
But then, VFW Post 1, a national model for a VFW that does things right, is also a post that does things differently.
Nearly 125 Years Strong
The “1” in John S. Stewart VFW Post 1 stands for something important.
The post is the first and oldest of the approximately 6,200 VFW posts across the 54 VFW departments worldwide. Each of the 50 states makes up one department, and the District of Columbia, Latin America, the Pacific Areas, and Europe comprise the other four.
The genesis of the VFW and VFW Post 1 goes back to 1899 and the founding of two veterans service organizations (VSOs) by veterans who had returned from the Spanish-American War.
Thirteen veterans established the American Veterans of Foreign Service in Columbus, Ohio, on Sept. 1, 1899. On Dec. 1, 1899, members of the Colorado Infantry who served in the Philippines sector of the conflict created the Colorado Society of the Army of the Philippines (later named the Army of the Philippines), and also the organization’s first chapter: the John S. Stewart Camp of Denver, named for a member of the unit killed in action in the Philippines.
In August of 1913, the American Veterans of Foreign Service joined the Army of the Philippines and established the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States and the VFW’s first post: John S. Stewart VFW Post 1.
Next year, VFW Post 1 will celebrate its 125th birthday.
VFW Post 1 has a large membership roll, representing a youngest-to-oldest age spread of about 80 years and service across several military conflicts, starting with the Second World War and continuing through the Korean Conflict, Vietnam War, Persian Gulf War, and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“We have 936 members in good standing and have maintained a membership of between 900 and 1,000 for several years,” said VFW Post 1 Commander Jim Stevens in a conversation with The Epoch Times.
Stevens shared the age demographic breakdown of the members of Post 1. It has 125 members under 40, with seven between the ages of 20 and 29, and 70 who are 90 years or older, including 11 between the ages of 100 and 105.
The age bracket with the most members is the Vietnam generation, which has 245 between 70 and 79 years old.
And during a period in which many VSO posts, even if they manage to stay open as an organization, must sell their physical headquarters or halls to pay bills, VFW Post 1 leverages the real estate it owns to improve the post and community center to serve veterans better.
“Our primary purpose and everything we do here supports helping veterans and caring and giving back to the community,” said Stevens.
VFW Post 1 has occupied the three-story 128-year-old building at 841 Santa Fe Drive in the Denver Art District on Santa Fe since 2014, when it bought the property after selling its previous headquarters nearby in the city.
A Different Vibe
When entering VFW Post 1 from the street, one experiences a modern and industrial feel: well-illuminated with LED daylight-bulb track lighting and fan lights, a high ceiling, polished wood floors, and walls decorated with art, much of it vibrant and colorful.There may be several people in the room strolling, mingling, talking, and getting up close to the wall art to examine and admire a painting or photograph or taking in a sculpture and conversing with the creator of the piece who is standing nearby.
The central area of Post 1 is an art gallery. On exhibit at the gallery is the work of highly talented artists, some novice and not so well known, and others accomplished with an international following.
Stevens is among those artists of distinction whose work—scrimshaw, carving, sculpture, and painting—has been displayed in the gallery.
Visitors may encounter people in activewear, positioned on a mat and practicing yoga.
Greg Griem, who served for 12 years in the Army as a communications specialist, leads meditation sessions. Griem did two deployments in Iraq.
“Meditation improves overall health and well-being,” said Griem.
Both Jirtle and Griem are also successful and established artists. Jirtle’s painting and Griem’s photography have been exhibited at the post’s gallery.
What one does not encounter on entering VFW Post 1 is the mid-20th century old-boy vibe that has long been associated with the interior of VFWs: smoky and dreary with yellowish light, with the male old-timer vets perched on torn and cracked vinyl seats attached to squeaky stools, nursing bottles of beers and shots of whisky, passed to them from a bartender working against a backdrop of mirrors and racks of potato chips and pretzels. Many have scuffed and yellowing linoleum floors, a pool table, and a dart board or two.
VFW Post 1 has a bar, but not a liquor license.
“Yes, we do have a bar—located on the first floor and main area of the post—but it only operates when an outside group, or the post itself, holds an event and takes out a one-day liquor license,” said Stevens. “And we have a section in the main area, alongside the art gallery, where the past and present photos of members, honor plaques, and other military service items are displayed.”
On the second Saturday of each month, VFW Post 1 holds the Healing Warriors Program, where veterans can receive non-narcotic healing treatment and therapies—including acupuncture, craniosacral therapy, and healing touch therapy—free of charge.
The VFW Challenge
The national VFW and the American Legion—the country’s largest VSO by membership—are both up against the unbending rules of mathematics and mortality.The nation is now in its 50th year without a draft. The World War II veteran population is in its twilight, the sun is setting on the Korean War veteran population, and the youngest Vietnam War veterans are approaching their 70s.
Also contributing to the challenge is that younger veterans who served post-9/11 don’t hold nearly the interest in joining VSOs as did their fellow soldiers from previous generations.
But VFW Post 1 is doing all right recruiting the younger generation and has been for several years.
Art and Wellness at VFW Post 1
Art programs at the post generate a great deal of attention.“We are very much part of the Art District on Santa Fe community,” said Stevens. “Our art gallery is well-known and features the work of many locally based and talented artists, mostly veterans.”
The gallery and the art activities operate under the Veterans Arts Council (VAC), an autonomous nonprofit that VFW Post 1 established in 2015.
For a VFW post that makes art and artists the locus of its operations, Stevens is the right fit to be its commander.
He endured grievous and life-threatening injury while in the service of his country, became disabled, and knew deep and awful despair. Art was a fundamental aid to getting better and staying healthy.
The wound that nearly killed Stevens came more than 50 years ago in the jungles of Vietnam during a firefight when he was shot in the head.
At the military hospital at Cam Ranh Bay Air Base, surgeons removed two pieces of a bullet but could not extract smaller fragments.
Stevens battled migraines for more than two decades. Still, he was able to work as a teacher at the University of Colorado. But in 1993, while he was preparing a lesson plan, he noticed the computer screen went dark; then everything else went dark.
When he woke up in the hospital, he only had a pinhole of sight in each eye. A doctor told him the bullet fragments had shifted, resulting in a stroke in his visual cortex.
Unable to see and increasingly depressed and angry, Stevens lost his job, his marriage ended, and he became the blind single parent of two preteen daughters.
Infuriated that the painting, sculpting, gem and stone work, and carving he did as a hobby was no longer available to him, he took a bat to all he had painted, all he had sculpted, and all he had carved. Unable to ride his motorcycle, he bashed up the bike with a crowbar.
Stevens’ daughters suggested he try to carve again. He tried but, almost unable to see the stone, it was futile–and he hurled the piece across the room. His daughter, Megghan, reminded him that he said he wouldn’t quit. Chastened, Stevens got back after it, and 900 hours later, he finished the wizard figurine that Megghan had requested.
Jim Stevens continued sculpting, carving, and painting. He researched and found special lenses that help him see and focus on details as he creates.
While the long history of Stevens’ art is carving and scrimshaw, more recently he developed a form of painting that’s attracting considerable attention. He layers and paints acrylic and Komatex PVC panels, or layers of monofilament fishing line, to create pieces that have a three-dimensional and floating quality.
Stevens enjoys talking about the Veterans Arts Council. He says that volunteers and their hard work are responsible for the VAC’s success.
“Our art gallery is a busy place, and as I’ve said, we are a part of the local art community,” said Stevens. “For example, the First Friday Art Walk is a monthly national event. It’s a big deal in the Art District and at our post. On the first Friday of the month, the VFW Post 1 art gallery is open from 5:30 to 10 in the evening. People view and admire art, all of which is for sale. And the artists are on site appearing with their work.”
Stevens explained that the post’s gallery exhibits only art curated through the post’s art committee, and there is a monthly rotation of artists.
More than 40,000 people annually visit the art gallery at VFW Post 1 during First Friday Art Walks.
On the third Friday of every month, the art gallery is open from 6 to 9 p.m.
And on the second Saturday of every month, the post holds an open call for veterans to present their art for review and curating. A limited number of slots for civilian artists to participate are available, which helps Post 1 integrate veteran artists with the broader community of artists.
Stevens and Jirtle serve as curators for the art open call.
VFW Post I also supports the written form of art. On the third Friday of every month, the Writers Workshop begins at 7 p.m.
Griem is an enthusiastic advocate for the VAC.
Committed to Supporting Veterans
John S. Stewart VFW Post 1 has shown that doing things differently, combined with a bit of daring, a lot of creativity, enormous measures of hard work, mountains of caring and compassion, and commitment to community, can be the stuff of how to keep the VFW alive and well.
Being a part of the local community delivers reciprocal benefits for the VFW and the community.
Art is the primary energy and fuel that powers the VFW Post 1 machine.
In the Denver Business Bureau video, James Holmes, a civilian and distinguished artist based in the Denver area, offered helpful comments on the importance of John S. Stewart VFW Post 1.
“With the VAC, 80 percent of the artists are veterans, and 20 percent are civilians like me. So, I was introduced to the gallery, and I show here on kind of a regular basis,” said Holmes. “I think it’s essential to the broader arts community.”
Holmes said he hears “incredible stories of people with a lot of courage,” and that he has “befriended people that I know have really serious challenges, largely because of their experiences in the military, and so I think that it’s important for the veterans because it helps to communicate to the broader community really who they are.”
