Dalton VFW post still looking for new members to reopen

Charles Oliver, The Daily Citizen, Dalton, Ga.
·3 min read

Oct. 6—George Lo Greco, senior vice commander of Dalton's Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) George Edward Smith Post 4985, said he's given up almost all hope for the future of the post.

"I'm afraid we've lost our building," he said. "We've lost the $100,000 we have in the bank."

In recent years, membership has dwindled, and recently the national VFW placed the post on probation and put its building at 618 Veterans Drive up for lease.

"We didn't have enough interest," said Lo Greco.

U.S. Army 1st Lt. George Edward Smith was the first Whitfield County native killed in World War II. Dalton Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4985, which was founded in 1946 shortly after the end of World War II, is named in his honor.

For the next 75 years the post was a place where those who served in America's wars could find support, companionship and camaraderie.

The post now has about five members. Lo Greco said if the post can get to at least 25 members and 11 officers before Jan 1, 2024, it will be taken off probation.

After the Dalton Daily Citizen ran a story on the plight of the post in May, Lo Greco said a former member rejoined and asked what he could do to help.

"I said find 24 more people to join," he said.

"We were contacted by someone in Florida who is supposed to be a super recruiter who said he would help us recruit, but that was several weeks ago and we haven't heard back from him," Lo Greco said.

Lo Greco said one obstacle the post faces is the general decline in people joining organizations or taking part in volunteer efforts. He noted that when local citizens first began posting American flags on the Whitfield County Courthouse lawn some 20 years ago for holidays and special occasions, dozens of people would show up. Now, he said, it's usually the same few people each time.

Lo Greco served in the Marine Corps from 1964-74 as a combat engineer and served in Vietnam from 1965-68. He stresses the VFW is more than a social organization but a service organization as well. It represents the interests of combat veterans in Washington, D.C., and each post has a service officer to help members navigate the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs bureaucracy.

The VFW sends every post service officer to an all-day school at least twice a year.

Lo Greco, who has served as the Dalton VFW post's service officer, said an experienced service officer can save a person years in dealing with the bureaucracy.

According to the VFW website (vfw.org), to join a person must be currently serving in the U.S. armed forces or have received an honorable discharge or general discharge under honorable conditions and have served "in a war, campaign or expedition on foreign soil or in hostile waters."

The latter can be proven by:

—Receiving an authorized campaign medal. The website has a full list of qualifying medals and badges.

—Receiving hostile fire or imminent danger pay.

—"Service in Korea for 30 consecutive or 60 non-consecutive days."

All of those must be backed up with appropriate paperwork.

Anyone who wishes to join the VFW can do so on that website.

VFW members can attend any VFW post. According to the VFW website, the closest posts besides Dalton are in Calhoun, Chattanooga and Collegedale, Tennessee.