Vets look back on post’s centenary

Walking down Orloff Avenue, passersby will probably notice two massive bald eagle statues flanking the entrance of one house. The eagles, relics from the original Madison Square Garden, stand guard over the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 95, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this month.

Post Commander Thomas Mullen has spent time looking through an old log book to see what the chapter was like a century ago.

“These places were almost run like a military organization, too — strict, very proper; women were treated in high regard. I look back through the paperwork and you could be banned for a day or you can’t come in for a week,” he said. “If you cursed, they’d tell you you’d get a one-day ban.”

“We’d have no members if we banned people for profanity,” interjected Jimmy Ahern, who volunteers with the chapter.

Formality was the byword while the chapter was still at East 163rd Street and Third Avenue, where members would take their wives for fundraising dinners and dances. It relocated to 3960 Orloff Ave. in 1974. Today, “the Post,” as its members call it, is less of a country club and more of a hangout where local veterans can relax and have a few drinks in the company of their peers. To be eligible for admission to a VFW chapter, veterans must prove they served in a hostile zone.

Mr. Mullen, who is currently on reserve duty with the Air Force, has been deployed overseas many times since his first tour during the Gulf War. Between tours, he served with the NYPD. That work led him to the Post in 2002, when he was working as a sergeant in the 50th Precinct.

“At that point, it would be kind of true to say that the Post was on a downfall and the place was kind of rundown and not really open per se. They’d rent out the hall area and once in a while they’d open up the bar area,” he said. “So I started coming in and obviously just took a general interest in the place.”

Open every weekend

Mr. Mullen became the post commander in 2006, and now the bar is open every Thursday through Sunday. There are more hours during the football and baseball seasons.
Edward Christ grew up going to the Post, where his father was the quartermaster and financial officer. When his father passed away, he took over the job. One of his tasks is to make sure potential members qualify for the VFW.

“Anytime you left the military, you were always given this one sheet of paper. It didn’t look like much, but with the little specific abbreviations it showed what medals you had won, what areas you had served in, from when to when,” he explained. “It showed whether or not your were qualified to become VFW or not. Just being in the military did not count fully… You had to be in hostile zones.”

Hostile zones include any war zone and places like Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and West Berlin during the Cold War.

Mr. Christ served in West Germany, between 1970 and 1973, with a Pershing unit that was charged with handling nuclear missiles.

“Here, they know everyone here has had the same type of experiences. You don’t have to tell what’s what, unless you want to,” he said. “You went through the same types of mess. Different area, different time, whatever, it doesn’t matter. You still went through your mess like I did. So you feel much more comfortable and relaxed.”

New recruits

These days, Mr. Mullen said one of the main goals of the Post is attract new members.

“We know there’s a lot of veterans in this local area that we would like to come and get to join and become members,” he said.

When the chapter celebrated its 75th anniversary in 1991, the future was not as promising. But the Post survived, and pays most of the bills by renting out its hall for events.

“So if we do well with a couple of parties a year, and ‘Law & Order’ filmed here, so that kind of helps out money-wise, because they make a donation to the VFW,” Mr. Mullen explained.

The Post has changed a lot since it used to ban members for profanity, but Mr. Mullen said it remains just as important in the lives of its members.

“A bar on Broadway, people might want to engage or something. Here, everyone is just going to say their hellos and then do their own thing unless you engage them in conversation, and they won’t talk about their military stories unless you want,” he said.