Post 5195 Red Hook Memorial Post
325 Van Brunt St
Brooklyn, NY 11231
(718) 624-9313

Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) is an organization of United States war veterans founded in 1899.  They have posts throughout the country with several in NYC.   Among the services it provides is a social gathering place for veterans. Some, such as the Red Hook post, welcome the community.  

The Commander is Michael "Mickey" Chirieleison.

There is a thoughtful October 23, 2014 profile of our VFW in Bklynr here.

• Joe Ruggiero "Joe Chips" interviewed in that was also interviewed by us in 2016 (see here) and passed in early 2024.
• Wally Bazemore was interviewed during a Pratt Institute class here.
  
• John Kirbow has left Red Hook.

Outside, but inside the gate, of the Red Hook VFW, stands  the memorial statue the Red Hook Doughboy dedicated to soldiers from Red Hook who died while serving in World War I.  Dedicated in 1921, it was paid for by shipbuilder William H. Todd (1857–1932), whose original shipyard is where the Brooklyn, IKEA is today.   The sculptor was Augustus Lukeman, a prolific artist in his day.  A related work by him is the Prospect Park World War I Memorial.  The monument originally stood in Todd Triangle park, which is bordered on two sides by the end of Columbia Street, near where the Todd Shipyard was.  The statue suffered vandalism and weathering over the years and in 1972 for its protection the doughboy was adopted by the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #5195.