Archives

Aug 30 2023

'Playing Sports ... is Everything'

Matt Daniels can catch a football after breaking off into a route, or he can fling a pass with the ease of a veteran quarterback — and he does this all from his wheelchair. Draped in the proverbial red, white and blue of his hometown NFL team, the Buffalo Bills, Daniels was among the first players to join the national Wheelchair Football Leag...

Aug 29 2023

'This is About Uniting'

Last year, the idea struck Karl Erickson, who carried it to his VFW Post 246 in Minneapolis for financial help in lifting the idea off the ground. An ambitious project impacting thousands of kids in and around the Twin Cities, Post 246 quickly voted on funding Erickson’s magnum opus: bringing free woodworking and birdwatching workshops to 10,...

Aug 28 2023

Deadline for VFW Student Veteran Advocates Nears

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Sept. 6 application deadline for the 2023-2024 VFW-SVA Legislative Fellowship is quickly approaching, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) is calling on all advocacy-minded student veterans to apply to be a part of this exciting opportunity. Established in 2013, the VFW-SVA Legislative Fellowship program was created t...

Aug 28 2023

'It Really Saved My Life'

When she joined the Mrs. America Pageant on a whim last year, Valerie Webb was encouraged to find a platform that aligned with her beliefs and passions. As an Afghanistan War veteran who spent eight years in the Navy before getting out in 2013, Webb knew it would need to benefit veterans and especially those who are homeless. “I thought hard ...

Aug 25 2023

'Self-Sufficient’ Veterans Build Desert Community

Resting against a foothill some 7,000 feet above sea level on a flat-topped mesa encased by mountains, a small veterans’ community lives off-grid in camaraderienear Carson, New Mexico. Founded in 2017 by Ryan Timmermans, the small, 50-acre desert community sprouted near Carson, about 25 miles west of Taos, New Mexico, to provide veterans with...

Aug 24 2023

VFW Members Operate Retreat for Wounded Vets

For the past 12 years, family after family has asked, “Why are they so kind?” The question refers to the community welcome and supportexperienced by combat-wounded veterans and their families during a week spent at a cabin in Custer, South Dakota. The cabin experience, offered by the 501(c)3 non-profit called Operation Black Hills Cabin...

Aug 17 2023

'Helping is Healing'

A battle-worn Marine of 30 years, Sgt. Maj. Lance Nutt cannot tell the story without tearing up. He and members of his Sheep Dog Impact Assistance team, a group of war veterans and retired police, fire and emergency response officers, were helping clean up the devastation of a tornado that ripped through Wynne, Arkansas, in March. The EF3 twister w...

Aug 17 2023

'Don’t Give Up on Your Goals’

Jonathan Pivaral, 27, grew up between the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, and Antigua, Guatemala. Right after high school, Pivaral enlisted in the Army National Guard, seeing it as a way forward. “I joined at 17 with the goal to begin a career and figure out how to get to where I wanted to be,” he said. Pivaral took advantage of his milit...

Aug 16 2023

'We Have Been Fighting for Years'

When the Honoring Our PACT Act was signed into law a year ago this month, VFW Post 9133 Commander Wendy Silvera thought to herself that her Post needed to do its part to help those in her community affected by the new law. “Everyone witnessed what the VFW had done to make sure that the PACT Act was passed,” said Silvera, a retired Marin...

Aug 16 2023

'We Will Never Forget This'

“I wanted to make my God, myself, my mother and my grandmother proud,” veteran Claudia Lane said. “Joining the Army was a great way to make that happen.” Lane, 38, enlisted in 2005 and served for eight years. Throughout her career, she was stationed in Washington and Texas and was deployed to Iraq. “Deployment was real...