In defense of the VFW and American Legion they are made up of common ex-military personel who on average served only one hitch, were busy doing other things while in the military like being shot at, are not guided by forced regulation anymore, and are for the most part retired. So any lack luster performances at ceremony can be forgiven, at least they are the real-deal. I know if they wanted to they could pull off a regulation honor guard albeit probably slower than they could when they were 18. The problems with adhoc re-enactment groups who publically perform ceremonies are

-they don't practice and pull inspections seven days a week and if they screw up or caught with their gig-line askew or scuffed shoes they're not going to loose a liberty or pass to go off base.

-the guidelines and protocol they used seems to be questionable and from what I've witnessed they're making it up.

Military drill and ceremony is based on traditions and have meaning. All soldiers and sailors are taught these meanings when in instruction, very important when forming young minds to the serious purpose of their job.

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David Upton