National Officers

Vincent “B.J.” Lawrence Lawrence was elected Commander-in-Chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. on July 25, 2018, at the 119th VFW National Convention in Kansas City, Mo.

B.J. served with the United States Army from 1983 to 1986, earning his VFW eligibility by serving in Korea, where he earned the Korean Defense Service Medal.

William J. “Doc” Schmitz was elected Senior Vice Commander-in-Chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. on July 25, 2018, at the 119th VFW National Convention in Kansas City, Mo.

Doc served in the United States Navy from 1966 to 1970. He served in Vietnam as a corpsman attached to United States Marine Corps infantry and artillery. In recognition of his service, he received the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.

Hal J. Roesch II was elected Junior Vice Commander-in-Chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. on July 25, 2018, at the 119th VFW National Convention in Kansas City, Mo.

Hal served in the United States Air Force from 1982 to 2002. He is a veteran of Operations Desert Shield/Storm and Southern Watch, and the recipient of the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Southwest Asia Service Medal with three campaign stars, the Humanitarian Service Medal (for Hurricane Hugo relief in South Carolina), and the Kuwait Liberation Medal.