Veterans of Foreign Wars
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, or simply VFW, is an American organization whose members are current or former members of the U.S. armed forces. To be eligible for membership, an individual must have earned a United States Government–issued overseas expeditionary or campaign medal, or have one of the following:
- Combat Infantryman Badge
- Combat Medical Badge, Combat Action Badge
- Combat Action Ribbon
- Korea Defense Service Medal
- Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon with gold border
- U.S. Navy SSBN Deterrent Patrol Insignia.
- Service in Korea from 30 June 1949 for 30 consecutive, or 60 nonconsecutive days to present
- hostile fire-imminent danger pay records
In addition they must either currently be on active duty or in a reserve component, or have been honorably discharged from the U.S. Armed Forces. A DD214 or World War II era discharge paper with campaign medals, and or badges printed on back is used to verify membership eligibility. A member must also be a United States citizen.[1]
The VFW became a government-chartered non-profit organization by an act of the United States Congress in 1936;[2] as such, it receives no funding from United States tax receipts and is supported by charitable donations. The first VFW was founded in Columbus, Ohio in 1899. The current VFW was first formed in 1914 from the merger of two prior veterans organizations which both arose in 1899: the American Veterans of Foreign Service and the National Society of the Army of the Philippines.[2] The former was formed for veterans of the Spanish-American War, while the latter was formed for veterans of the Philippines War.
VFW works on behalf of American veterans by lobbying Congress for better veterans' health care and benefits.[3] The VFW also maintains a nationwide organization of employees and volunteers to assist veterans with their VA disability claims.[4]
VFW also donates hundreds of thousands of dollars and millions of hours for community service.[5] One of their most popular programs, Operation Uplink, provides free phone cards to overseas service members.
The current Commander of the VFW is George Lisicki.
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[edit] Criticism
The VFW has been criticized for partisanship during election campaigns, with many arguing that it is a biased Republican organization. In the 2006 midterm elections, the VFW endorsed Peter Roskam, a Republican congressional candidate with no military background, over Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran who lost both her legs in combat.[1]
[edit] See also
- AMVETS
- American Legion
- Royal Canadian Legion
- The Royal British Legion
- Returned and Services League of Australia
- Royal New Zealand Returned and Services' Association
- Grand Army of the Republic
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
- ^ VFW Eligibility Information (PDF). VFW (October 2005). Retrieved on 2006-11-04.
- ^ a b VFW At A Glance (PDF). VFW (2004-09-02). Retrieved on 2006-11-04.
- ^ Legislative Victories (PDF). VFW (2004-09-02). Retrieved on 2006-11-04.
- ^ Services to Veterans (PDF). VFW (2004-09-02). Retrieved on 2006-11-04.
- ^ Programs & Projects (PDF). VFW (2004-09-02). Retrieved on 2006-11-04.
