An estimated 1,700 veterans in Danville have lost one of the few meeting places they could rely on for support and comradery with the closing of VFW Post 728, which had its charter revoked in November 2024, due to a lack of involvement in monthly meetings, as well as other issues.
Former members of Post 728 are calling on area veterans to attend a meet and greet at Danville Public Library Saturday, March 29, at 3 p.m. in hopes of generating enough interest to appeal the revocation of their charter.
“The VFW has been around for 125 years, and we’ve been alive for 103 years,” Matthew Long said of local Post 728. “So, we’re probably one of the oldest.” Long, Vermilion County Recorder, is a veteran who served overseas in Southwest Asia.
Back in November 2024, Post 728 Commander Jason Wills was informed that the post’s charter would be revoked due to an issue with paperwork that had not been filed in time.
“They came in and they gave us a list of things we needed to work on and we knocked out everything on that list. Months later, they were like, ‘Hey, you guys are closed,’ so we were in the middle of fixing everything,” Wills said.
A key issue the post needed to improve was the lack of attendance at monthly meetings. Although Long estimated the Post had around 75 members, they struggled with getting them involved in meetings and events.
“The problem is a lot of them are older and they weren’t coming out to the monthly meeting,” Long said. “We need to get that next generation involved. There’s no reason [to shut it down] with the the kind of building we have and we had money in the checking account. It’s just getting people to attend the monthly meetings.”
Wills said the lack of attendance was also due to widespread illness and a struggle to set meetings for a time that would work for everyone.
“We used to hold meetings the first Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m., but some veterans had trouble driving at night,” Wills said.
It was only recently that he learned of the possibility of hosting meetings over Zoom or over the phone — something he hopes the post will do should they be successful in having their charter re-issued.
For area veteran Sergeant Amanda Simmons, who served in Iraq from 2007-08 and Korea from 2010-11, getting to meetings was difficult.
“It’s not very easy when you’re a single mother who is working and attending school full-time,” Simmons said.
Still, she hopes the VFW is able to re-open and work out a schedule that works for more people in the younger generations.
“The VFW is a place where us local Veterans can go to feel comradery amongst other fellow Veterans. It’s a place where we can be seen, we can listen and also be heard and understood. We aren’t invisible there like we are to the rest of society,” Simmons said.
Like similar organizations in the area, the VFW provides scholarships to middle and high school students through patriotic essay competitions. Post 728 also hosted an annual golf outing to raise money to donate to Mission K9 Warriors, which provides service dogs for veterans.
What sets the VFW apart from other local organizations is their selection criteria, Long said.
“As long as you served honorably in the military, you can join the American Legion. To join the VFW, you had to actually have been deployed to a combat zone. So, our pool of people to choose from is a lot less, and it’s more limited than the American Legion,” Long said.
In order to prove their service overseas, applicants can submit an authorized campaign medal from a list of qualifying medals and badges — including the Asiatic-Pacific Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, the Purple Heart, Vietnam Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, and more.
They may also submit a receipt of Hostile Fire Pay or Imminent Danger Pay, verified by a military pay statement, or prove service in Korea for 30 consecutive or 60 non-consecutive days, something they can prove by submitting a DD-214 form.
Those without such a form can attain one by contacting the National Personnel Records Center at 314-801-0800 or by visiting www.archives.gov/veterans/evetrecs.
Long hopes many veterans and their families show up at the meeting Saturday to help bolster their plans to re-apply for the charter.
“I sent out 200 or so of these flyers to area veterans who had past involvement with the VFW,” he said, adding that their plan to re-apply would not work if not enough people show up at the meet and greet.
“If we only have a handful of people show up then it’ll just tell me that there’s just not enough interest to keep the Post alive,” Long said.
The Meet and Greet will be hosted at 3 p.m. at the Danville Public Library on Saturday, March 29. Both active and prospective members are invited to attend and sign the petition.
“We cannot allow the legacy of VFW Jewell Whyte Post 728 to be forgotten,” Long said in a letter he co-wrote with State Rep. Brandun Schweizer — himself a veteran. “We must fight to reopen the doors of this post by increasing membership, hosting fundraising events, and amplifying awareness of the post’s significance to local and national veterans’ organizations.”