Morris VFW Post 6049 reopens with renewed mission, new interior

The 2023 fire at the Morris VFW Post 6049 building was an upending experience for the more than 100 active members who have been an active part of the organization. However, months of perseverance, determination and elbow grease have yielded a rebirth for the 58-year-old chapter.

In some respects, Jerry Peterson, who serves as quartermaster of Post 6049, described the electric failure in the kitchen area of the facility as a challenging event that had a silver lining.

“We wound up spending a lot of money,” Peterson said of efforts to get the facility back up and running. “We had over $1 million worth of damage, and we spent $200,000 of our own money. It’s been a blessing in disguise, and I’m very glad to be back open.”

Last fall, on into the first half of 2024, Peterson and other leaders with Post 6049 worked tirelessly to reimagine the local VFW, all that while staying true to the organization’s core mission.

“It’s totally been changed,” Peterson, who is a veteran of the Navy and Marine Corps, said of the interior. “We have an open ceiling now. Everything’s just beautiful now.”

VFW Post 6049 had its unofficial reopening – or, as Peterson likes to refer to it, a “soft opening” as some of the last kinks were still being worked out.

“This fire that we had was exhausting,” Peterson said. “Now we’re back up and open, and we’re here with open arms.”

In the days leading up to the official unveiling of the new venue shortly before the nation’s celebration of independence, crews were putting the finishing touches on roof and siding projects and propping up the post’s new awning.

New fixture installations, cleanings and inspections also occurred in the final days.

The reception from post members was heartening in those early days, Peterson said, and has continued in the months that followed.

“The people are fabulous,” Peterson said. “Everyone’s glad to be back home. It’s been open arms by everybody.”

Post 6049 has 116 active members on the roster, and Peterson said the organization is always seeking local veterans to join.

“If anyone’s been a part of a foreign war and is not involved in a VFW, I suggest that they come to us so we can help them become a member,” Peterson said. “We are a tight-knit family. We try to take care of everybody.”

2024 also happens to coincide with the 125th anniversary of the parent VFW organization. The VFW’s roots go back to 1899, when a small group of veterans at the time banded together after serving in campaigns in Cuba and the Philippines.

“We’re all a brotherhood; we all stick together,” Peterson said. “We served in a war, one way or another. All of us have been to a war of some sort. I think the camaraderie and the brotherhood of having served in a war is what brings us all and keeps us all together.”