They decorate our cemeteries with flags and wreaths, perform honor guard ceremonies in 90-degree heat, sponsor community events and work tirelessly to preserve the memory of the men and women who have died defending the United States.

But while service organizations around the country are prepping for their most active weekend of the year, the average age of their membership continues to rise and questions about their future remain.Just last year, the Lehighton United Veterans Organization significantly scaled back its Memorial Day program after falling on the wrong side of a numbers game.“A lot of our longtime members are either deceased or just can’t do it anymore,” said Kevin “Spike” Long, Lehighton UVO commander.“Through the last few years, we’ve been able to pick up a few Vietnam-era veterans, but it’s a struggle to get participation from our younger veterans. I know it’s a sign of the times, but it’s getting to the point where it’s challenging to continue to do the amount of services we had been doing.”Why has it been so hard to attract younger veterans?Harry Wynn III, past commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 256, believes the clubs have to modernize.“We have to do what the young men and women want to do,” Wynn said. “We’re doing what their grandparents wanted to do. The veterans coming back today don’t want to play shuffleboard and darts. I think they want a family-friendly atmosphere. The other part of it is, a lot of them just want to go out and do the things they could have been doing while they were in the service.”Stats paint a grim taleVeterans of Foreign Wars of the United States and the American Legion date back to 1899 and 1919, respectively.Nationwide, a VFW that once stood 2.1 million members strong is down below 1.3 million. The American Legion, once with 3.3 million members, now has just 2.4 million.Pennsylvania has the highest VFW membership of any state at 76,500, but it is on a downward trend.Around the country, more than 2,000 American Legion and VFW posts have closed.Locally, many of the groups have been able to keep their heads above water, but signs of the time are showing.“At our legion, we are fortunate to still have enough people left who care and are willing but the numbers are shrinking dramatically,” said Keith McQuait, Jim Thorpe American Legion Post 304 commander. “We provide honor guards with rifles for the funeral services of the approximately 25 to 35 veterans who are laid to rest here in our area each year A lot of our honor guard members are more than 80 years old.”Declining membership can’t be blamed on a shallow pool of eligible applicants.In fact, McQuait said, anyone who has served in the military since 1991 is eligible to join the American Legion, making it the longest wartime eligibility period in history.“The younger generations are just not joining up and volunteering,” he said. “They just don’t know or just don’t care. It’s hard to say exactly what it is. In any case we desperately need them to get involved or the American Legion will cease to exist.”Time takes its tollNew organizations have already capitalized on the modernization Wynn stressed is so important for survival.Team Red, White and Blue, for example, promotes exercise and fitness, while The Mission Continues helps post-9/11 veterans transition back into everyday life.Just how to get younger veterans in the fold is something service organizations are struggling with on a daily basis.According to the VFW, only 15 percent of the eligible 2.5 million Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans have joined the service organizations.Around 372 veterans of World War II die daily, with only 620,000 of the original 16 million soldiers still alive, according to a National World War II Museum estimate.“Our youngest members are probably in their 40s,” Wynn said. “Are we getting those younger, post 9/11 veterans? No, we’re really not.”While groups struggle to get younger members, the UVO has also noticed a drop in attendance of its events.UVO Vice Commander David Bryfogle said he can remember as a kid in the 1950s when people used to line the streets when the parade would come through town.“Traffic would be all backed up and you had the band plus 50 veterans with them,” Bryfogle said. “The band had to play about two or three songs just until the children got done putting flowers on the graves.”Future up in the airA surge of patriotism after 9/11 gave older veterans hope, but the enthusiasm has since waned.Long said the length of the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan cause people to put what is happening on the back burner and go on with their lives.Service organizations aren’t the only clubs feeling the pinch.United States membership in Lions International is 300,000, down from a peak of 550,000 in the early ’90s.Meanwhile, Rotary International has lost around 100,000 United States members since 1993.“I think these groups have to change the way they look at some things,” Wynn said. “A good start would be to welcome a young veteran and greet them when they walk in the doors. I think in some situations they don’t feel welcomed. If you don’t talk to them, they aren’t going to want to be a part of that group”Some guys, Wynn added, will talk to anyone and welcome that opportunity to embrace the younger generation. Others are more set in how they feel.“Either way, the ranks are getting thinned,” Wynn said, “and the future of the organizations hinge on change.”