The transformation at Monroe's VFW Post 7511 is incredible. After falling to just four members and in danger of closing, a handful of stalwarts refused to let it go.
One of them is Pat Gierde, a veteran of the Army, Navy and Marines.
His pride runs deep, but the first time he visited his local VFW hall, it stopped him in his tracks.
"It was like going down in your grandpa's basement," he said. "It had that musty smell and the old creaky chairs."
Army vet Shane Williams shares that military pride and dedicated himself to injecting new life into the post. He and a handful of others started by building a veterans memorial at Lake Tye Park.
Slowly, the word started to spread and young people started to join.
"People can do so much behind their screens these days, I feel it's our duty to get them out," said Shane. "We let them know they can still have the same camaraderie outside of the military, something they thought they lost when they left."
Nationwide, the number of VFW members have dropped by half over the past quarter-century.
The stereotype of the sad, smoky barroom still lingers for many but Monroe Post 7511 is not your grandfather's VFW.
A bright office above a sparkly taproom is its current home.
Air Force veteran Jaymie Weber is the post's first female quartermaster and membership grew from four to 45 -- including three women.
"A lot of female veterans don't join the post because of that old stigma, but there's a camaraderie that you get from being in the military that you do not get anywhere else in your life. To get that back is amazing," she said.
The post is planning a Memorial Day 5-K in Monroe to attract even more new members.
"We're all about spreading the support to all of our military families, and keeping the memories of those who have gone before us alive," said Shane.
