VFW Post 5432 in Corrales recruiting members

Published February 13th, 2023 at 3:51 pm, Last Updated February 14th, 2023 at 12:59 pm

Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5432 in Corrales is looking for a few good men… or women.

To be eligible, you just need to have served in an overseas conflict as a member of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Air Force or Space Force.

Tom Totoris, who serves as chaplain for the post, recently contacted the Corrales Comment with a plea.

“Many of our founding members are up in years or deceased,” he wrote of Post 5432. “Like any organization, one must recruit younger members to sustain itself.”

Totoris has been contacting local businesses to see if they’ll post a recruitment flier, which announces “Our Post Needs New Members.” He asked if the Corrales Comment could help spread the word by publishing an announcement.

“We are a small post and meet at Perea’s restaurant in Corrales the third Monday of each month from 7 to 8 p.m.,” the flier says.

Interested parties are invited to drop in at Perea’s at that time to meet some of the members of VFW’s Horacio Martinez Post 5432, named for a Corrales native and World War II veteran who helped start the post.

Terry Brown is commander of the VFW Post 5432. He said there are 10 or 12 regulars who show up at Perea’s each month. Altogether, about 70 people are members of the post.

“We struggle now to get younger people,” said Brown, a Vietnam veteran.

As older members die off, the VFW post needs younger members – those who served in conflicts like Desert Storm, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Commander Brown said Post 5432 holds two main fundraisers each year, selling small American flags and buddy poppies at Walmart around Memorial Day and Veterans Day. 

“We give them to everyone that walks in the door. They can donate if they want,” he said.

They also volunteer sprucing up veteran’s graves at the cemetery.

Brown said he feels a duty to stay involved, and the VFW is one way to do it.

“Membership provides a voice and strength in the nation’s capital,” he said. “The more members we have the stronger our voices.”

Brown said he enjoys meeting other veterans at Perea’s each month to sip coffee, tell war stories and discuss the matters of the day.

“Sometimes they’ll even bake us biscochitos,” he said.

The next time they meet will be Feb. 20.

For more information, call Terry Brown at 505-350-1641 or John Harvell at 505-681-7858.