It was a time when anything was possible, and in the 1940s, Montana soldiers, sailors and Marines returned from World War II as an ambitious bunch.

They founded new organizations, launched new businesses and were instrumental in funding the construction of the Veterans and Pioneers Building at the Capitol complex in the early 1950s.

But nearly six decades later, the building has become known as the Montana Historical Society, and most of the veterans groups that helped fund the state museum have since moved out or vanished altogether for lack of membership.

The 163rd Infantry Association, once a museum mainstay with its second-floor office, is gone, along with most of the soldiers who founded the group after winning victories in fierce South Pacific fighting.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars also is losing Montana members at a rapid rate, although it still claims a strong political action committee and is working to reverse its downward trend in membership.

While some groups have disappeared or are struggling to hold on, other organizations are doing well, including the American Legion, where Vietnam veterans have taken the place of their World War II forebearers.

“We in Montana have been very successful,” said Gary White, department adjutant of the American Legion. “Even though our World War II generation is passing away, we’ve been keeping our numbers steady, and actually growing them for the last eight years.”

The American Legion claimed 12,300 members across Montana in 2005. At the close of last year, it had grown to 12,990 members.

Vietnam veterans make up the largest group currently serving the American Legion. They’ve taken the torch from their predecessors, mainly World War II and Korean vets, and are working hard to grow the organization beyond what it was by bringing more women into the fold.

“That’s an untapped resource for us, but you still have to break that old mindset among some members,” White said. “Eight to 9 percent of our organization is female now. Five years ago, it was maybe 3 percent.”

More than 13 years have passed since a World War II veteran has commanded the American Legion in Montana. Most of the World War II vets are now in their late 80s and early 90s. A larger number of them have passed away, and many organizations — founded by the “greatest generation” — failed to recruit enough young vets to survive the generational transition.

Perhaps the most notable loss in Montana was that of the 163rd Infantry Association. The group was founded in 1947 by the Montana men who fought the Japanese at New Guinea, the Philippines and Okinawa between 1943 and 1945.

But only a handful of the group’s veterans remain alive, and the 163rd no longer holds the celebratory reunions it did just five years ago. The organization is no longer listed among the state’s veterans groups.

“When you get specific organizations like that, sometimes it turns into a last man’s club,” White said. “We have much wider membership criteria. They limited their membership to members of the 163rd Infantry.”

While the American Legion has been able to hold its membership steady, if not grow its ranks, the Montana Veterans of Foreign Wars hasn’t been as successful, even in this state, which boasts one of the largest veteran populations per capita in the country.

Larry Longfellow, adjutant quartermaster with the Montana Department of the VFW, said membership has been declining “rapidly” over the past two years, with the VFW losing nearly 1,200 Montana members in that short time.

“One, we’re losing our World War II veterans,” Longfellow said. “We weren’t properly recruiting the way we should have been.”

Like the American Legion, the largest membership group in the VFW is now Vietnam vets, including Longfellow, who served aboard the USS Galveston in 1965.

But Longfellow is retiring in two years, and the group’s aging members are looking toward the younger generation of veterans to take their place, starting with those from the Persian Gulf War and the current war in Iraq.

The VFW also needs to recruit more women, Longfellow admitted. As it stands, Jennifer Yount of Deerlodge is the only female officer currently serving in the Montana VFW.

“When I joined in 1966, the VFW was a family-oriented organization,” Longfellow said. “We kind of got away from that. It’s what we have to go back to if we want to get these younger veterans.”

Martin Kidston: 447-4086 or mkidston@helenair.com