LYME/OLD LYME–For this Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post with no bar and no building, the focus remains on helping veterans wherever they can be found. 

VFW Post 1467 trustee and former commander David Griswold said the group has helped 142 veterans since an anonymous donor handed him a check for $10,000 over a cup of coffee back in 2012. 

Griswold, a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, whose service included a year in Vietnam as a company commander, recounted the exchange during an interview last week at the Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library. He said the donor had two requests—that his name remain anonymous and that the money be used to help veterans. 

“You can’t go out and buy a pool table or have a beer party,” Griswold recalled the man saying. 

It was an easy commitment for an organization that had long eschewed the smoky, wood-paneled VFW canteens popularized in the post-World War II era. Instead, they’ve met predominantly at the Lymes’ Senior Center. 

“And not having a bar has really helped us,” Griswold said. “These bars, they sprung to life after the war in the 50s, 60s. They’re old buildings, a lot of them. They’re beat up. They’re a horrible expense to keep up. Insurance is terrible.”

Post 1467 Membership Chairman Ed Shilosky, who is credited with the “No Bar, No Building, Just Good Works” motto, said not having to worry about building upkeep has allowed them to put more resources toward helping veterans in need and helped draw more members. 

Shilosky, who was in the Army for 23 years, served on active duty in Vietnam and then in the reserves.

“The main reason people join us now is they want to get away from VFWs that don’t do anything, either for the community or for veterans, because they’re weighed down by other expenses,” Shilosky said. 

Griswold pointed to changing societal attitudes that have made the group’s ethos all the more relevant. 

“Back after World War II, going out and drinking heavy was kind of expected, but it’s not now,” he said. “And let’s say you have a young person that gets back from Iraq or Afghanistan, maybe he has some drinking issues. Saying, ‘Let’s join the VFW, you can get drunk every day’ isn’t helping the person.” 

The post’s membership roster of roughly 80 people includes veterans from Lyme, Old Lyme and beyond. The only membership requirement is honorable, verifiable service in a combat zone. 

The Vets in Need program, which Shilosky said has grown out of that unexpected donation to fund about $105,000 in one-time needs, covers expenses including food, rent, utilities, home and car repairs, travel and accessibility upgrades. 

The program helped pay for three funerals. Used cars, most of them provided at cost by All Pro Automotive in Old Lyme, add up to 10. Thirteen veterans received specialized equipment or furniture to accommodate their medical needs.

The group has also given more than $60,000 to statewide initiatives administered through Connecticut Veterans Affairs. 

The first veteran to benefit from the Vets in Need program was an elderly man living in a converted garage with a bucket as a chamber pot, according to Shilosky. Another needed help relocating to Las Vegas to live with a daughter when his wife got sick. One struggling veteran whose paintings lined his apartment ended up with an art show at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Essex after Post 1467 got involved. 

“Those are the kinds of things that are so gratifying,” Shilosky said.  

Griswold said the group’s strength is its ability to react quickly when emergencies arise. In the case of veterans who cannot afford utility payments during the winter, Post 1467 members can get the furnace restarted and two months of heating bills paid before state and federal resources can be secured for a more long-term solution. 

Each case needs sign-off from the post’s service officer, trustees and membership, he said.

He likened the group’s role to that of a military medic. 

“We’re running out there and getting an immediate fix,” he said. “And then it can be turned over to other organizations.”

Former Old Lyme First Selectman Tim Griswold, a previous commander of the VFW post and cousin of David Griswold, said the group has expanded its outreach beyond Lyme and Old Lyme. 

“It was apparent that there were other individuals not within our border that had needs,” he said. “And so we’re willing to help people regardless.”

If that sometimes means stepping outside of their jurisdiction into the realm of other VFW posts, Tim Griswold wasn’t too worried about it. He said any lingering concerns were assuaged by a visit from a national VFW commander a couple years ago. 

“He was very well pleased with us, saying, ‘This is how a post should be,’” he recalled. “You don’t necessarily have to have little fiefdoms. You can help veterans that are in need, and that’s a good thing.” 

The three men said the communities of Lyme and Old Lyme are uniquely situated to give back to veterans.

David Griswold recognized the area at the confluence of the Connecticut River and the Long Island Sound as a place where some very accomplished people from all over the world have landed. 

“And a lot of them have done well financially and are very generous,” he said. “I’ve heard people say, ‘Well, they can afford it.’ But that doesn’t mean they’re going to do it. I know some wealthy people, who wouldn’t give you a dime.”

For Shilosky, it all goes back to an overarching sense of service and gratitude that comes from veterans who look outward together – and the community who supports them. 

He said the Post 1467 mantra has grown from “Small but Mighty” to the oft-repeated “No Bar, No Building, Just Good Works.” 

“And I think we’ve lived up to that,” he said. 

Editor’s Note: Lyme-Old Lyme (LOL) VFW Post 1467 reminds all local Veterans and Veteran families in need that they can reach out to the Post to request a great variety of types of assistance. All that is required is the Veteran’s DDForm214 Record of Military Service and a call to Services Officer, Navy Rtd. Captain Larry Olsen at 607-220-7137. The Services Officer will then respond, assess the need, and assist as appropriate.