MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – On this day June 6, 1921, The Department of Wisconsin Veterans of Foreign Wars was established. You probably know it as the VFW.

The greater VFW traces its roots back to 1899, when veterans of the Spanish-American war and the Philippine Insurrection founded organizations to secure benefits and right for their service.

After the first chapters were formed, the movement quickly gained momentum across the United States, with over 200,000 members by 1936.

Here in Wisconsin, the oldest post is VFW Post 328 in Stoughton. The post stays busy by hosting fish fries, and several other events to raise money and engage with the community.

In 2026, Wisconsin has over 26,000 VFW members in over 250 local posts across the state.

Click here to download the WMTV15 News app or our WMTV15 First Alert weather app.

The Wisconsin Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.

• Wauwatosa West guard Jalen Brown has committed to the Wisconsin men’s basketball program.
• Brown is the first commitment for the Badgers’ 2027 recruiting class.
• The four-star recruit is ranked as a top-100 player nationally by both 247 Sports and Rivals.

MADISON – Wisconsin men’s basketball has kept one of the best in-state recruits home.

Wauwatosa West’s Jalen Brown has committed to the Badgers, he announced on June 5, giving Greg Gard his first commitment of the 2027 class.

Brown – a four-star recruit rated 66th nationally by 247 Sports and 63rd nationally by Rivals – chose Wisconsin over scholarship offers from Indiana, Iowa, Washington, California, Minnesota and others.

The 6-foot-4 guard was on the Journal Sentinel’s first-team all-area boys basketball team in 2025-26 after averaging 20.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 2.9 steals per game. He also was the Greater Metro Conference’s player of the year.

That was a year after helping Wauwatosa West win its first-ever state title in 2024-25 while earning third-team all-area recognition.

“They’re getting a really good basketball player, but probably even a better person,” Wauwatosa West coach Christopher Newbauer told the Journal Sentinel. “Super awesome guy. … They’re getting a point guard or combo guard that sees the floor extremely well. He gets his teammates involved. He’s a kid that can score at all three levels.”

Looking ahead to Brown’s senior year of high school, Newbauer wants to see Brown add more muscle and become more vocal ahead of competing in the Big Ten.

“He’s the complete package kid,” Newbauer said. “The two things things that he needs to work on, if he gets that, I think he could be a pro down the line. If he isn’t maybe playing in the NBA or something like that, he definitely will be playing overseas.”

He is the first top-100 in-state player, as ranked by 247 Sports, to join the Badgers since Brevin Pritzl in the 2015 recruiting class. Two of the other top-100 in-state players in the 2027 class, Dooney Johnson and Donovan Davis, committed to Gonzaga and Iowa State, respectively.