Archives

Jan 28 2019

‘This Program Is Helping My Family’

The VFW’s Unmet Needs program awarded more than $1,300 to an Iraq War Army veteran in need of financial support. James Bohlin, an Army veteran who enlisted in March 2010, served as an infantryman in Afghanistan’s Paktia Province with 509th Inf. Regt., 4th BCT, 25th Inf. Div., during a 2012 deployment. Bohlin, of Dallas, Texas, said he h...

Jan 25 2019

‘I Can Feel Again’

Amember of VFW Post 10165 in Diamond Springs, Calif., works for homeless veterans in his community and around the country. He’s doing what he can to make sure his fellow brothers and sisters are “good to go.” Tracey DiVita, a Marine Corps veteran who served from 1999 to 2003, got the idea to help homeless veterans when he came acr...

Jan 24 2019

Help A Hero Scholarship Helps 'Pave the Way' to MBA

Iraq War veteran Truong Mai had just started his career while pursuing a Master of Business Administration when he came into financial hardship. And VFW’s Sport Clips Help A Hero Scholarship provided the assistance he needed. “This scholarship really helped me out in regard to paying for tuition, books and stipends stuff like that,&rdqu...

Jan 22 2019

VFW Supports Grieving Widow and Daughter

Katie Bouchard and 6-year-old daughter, Piper, are getting a little bit better every day. Katie and veteran Keith Bouchard had been married for over a decade when he took his own life. A family in despair with so many details to handle have managed a lot in the past year. What seemed to be a sudden occurrence had a long, telling trail leading to th...

Jan 21 2019

‘Just Good Works’

VFW Post 1467 in Old Lyme, Conn., has the motto: “No bar, no building; just Good Works!” According to past Post commander Ed Shyloski, when the Post was chartered in 1993, its members met in the Old Lyme Senior Center and agreed there was no reason for a Post home or bar. Instead, they decided to put their efforts and funds into serving...

Jan 17 2019

An ‘Xtreme’ Entrepreneur

Bob Parsons says he owes everything he has to the Marine Corps. Parsons, who served as a rifleman with Delta Co., 1st Bn., 26th Marines, attached to 1st Marine Div., in Quang Nam Province in 1969, said as a high school senior, he was failing most subjects. Then a couple friends invited him along when they spoke to a Marine Corps recruiter. “T...

Jan 17 2019

Veterans Service Organizations Issue The Independent Budget Policy Agenda for 116th Congress

WASHINGTON — Today, DAV, Paralyzed Veterans of America and Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States released The Independent Budget Veterans Agenda for the 116th Congress which contains policy recommendations to ensure that the Department of Veterans Affairs remains fully-funded and capable of carrying out its mission to serve veterans a...

Jan 17 2019

Action Alert: Pay Our Coast Guard!

VFW Action Alert: Pay Our Coast Guard! The federal government has been in a partial shutdown for more than three weeks because Congress and the administration cannot reach an agreement on border protection. The Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense have full-year appropriations and are not directly impacted by the shutdown. Howev...

Jan 16 2019

Action Alert: Tell Congress to Pass Blue Water Navy Legislation Now!

The VFW is urging its members and supporters to tell Congress to pass Blue Water Navy legislation now! This past year, Congress failed to pass H.R. 299, the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act, which would finally restore VA benefits to some 90,000 veterans exposed to Agent Orange. Veterans who served in the offshore waters of Vietnam, during the ...

Jan 15 2019

Painting Away the Trauma

In the aftermath of experiencing war, some VFW members have returned to their previous passion — art — to manage post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and bring hope to others. VFW Life member Pete Damon is one of them. He was in Iraq for only a few weeks when everything changed. On Oct. 21, 2003, Damon, who served with the Arm...