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9/11/2014 - WASHINGTON — The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States supports President Obama’s new strategy to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and is demanding that Congress support the troops by providing them the necessary funding to execute the new mission, and to put an end to sequestration, which is set to restart in fiscal year 2016. In a nationwide speech last evening, the president said “ISIL is not ‘Islamic.’ No religion condones the killing ...

9/13/2013 - To: All Members of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives From: Robert E. Wallace Executive Director Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. Washington Office Re: Department of Defense Budget Date: September 12, 2013 The Junior Vice Commander-in-Chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S., John Biedrzycki, and I recently returned from visiting NATO and American Forces stationed in Europe. From SHAPE and NATO ...

9/18/2009 - In 1971, Mrs. Michael Hoff of Jacksonville, Florida, wife of MIA Michael Hoff, a Navy Pilot, had the idea that the National League of Families of POW/MIA should have a banner, or flag, to represent its important cause. The League agreed, and told her to proceed to have a flag for the League designed. Mrs. Hoff went to Annin Flag Company, and met with Alan Rivkees, the Vice President. He agreed that Annin would design a flag for the POW/MIA and the League of Families, and...

1/22/2009 - WASHINGTON — The national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. said today's presidential decision to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is not a prudent course of action during a time of war. "The detention facility is a valuable tool in the fight against terrorism because it provides useful intelligence information and it keeps our enemies off the battlefield," said Glen M. Gardner, Jr., a Vietnam veteran from Round Rock, Texas, just...

11/9/2008 - SAN DIEGO (NNS) — During a visit to Southern California military installations Nov. 5, the head of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) visited Naval Base San Diego (NBSD). Glen Gardner, elected as the commander-in-chief of the 1.6 million-member Veterans of Foreign Wars in August, toured the Navy's largest surface forces installation on the west coast to meet with Navy leaders and Sailors. He was accompanied by VFW Assistant Director of Field Operations Larry Berman and ...

8/30/2024 - WASHINGTON — It has been three years since the United States finally left Afghanistan in a calamitous and deadly withdrawal of our troops after almost two decades of war. Whether it is the footage of Afghan civilians clinging to the side of a C-17 Globemaster III and falling to their deaths or photos of the aftermath of the deadly attack at Abbey Gate which took the lives of 13 service men and women and more than 100 Afghans, these images from the chaos in Kabul at that ...

3/27/2017 - More than 7,000 veterans, service members and supporters braved the desert heat on March 19, to participate in the annual Bataan Memorial Death March at White Sands Missile Range, making it the most highly-attended event in its 28-year history. In addition to the VFW’s role as presenting sponsor of this year’s event, it was an active participant on the grueling 26.2 mile course, too. “Team VFW,” was comprised of the VFW’s National Commander Brian Duffy, his son Andrew, D...

2/27/2018 - At PatientsLikeMe, a member of the VFW’s Mental Wellness Campaign, we’ve been shining a spotlight on voices in the veteran community. We’ve heard from a military caregiver battling caregiver fatigue, a lung cancer survivor celebrating a year cancer free, and a veterans advocate who shared how he stays calm with embroidery. Today, we’d like to introduce Lynn, an Iraq war veteran living with PTSD and depression. Lynn shared about how he went from struggling daily to cros...

8/30/2022 - WASHINGTON — We all knew the war had to come to an end, but as the world watched the U.S.’s chaotic and heart-wrenching withdrawal from Afghanistan, we never expected it to end that way. Today marks the one-year anniversary of the end of the longest war in U.S. history. From the U.S. invasion shortly after the devastating attacks on Sep. 11, 2001, to the last U.S. Air Force C-17 that lifted off the Kabul International Airport runway on Aug. 30, 2021, approximately 800,0...

6/2/2017 - It was a walk in the desert for more than 6,300 people. The 14.2- or 26.2-mile trek — depending on the route chosen — through the scrub brush and mountains of the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico on March 19 commemorated the 75th anniversary of WWII’s Bataan Death March. While 7,200 registered for the 28th annual Bataan Memorial Death March, only 3,673 finished the marathon. For the seventh year, VFW was a presenting sponsor. Additionally, the organization was wel...