KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Veterans of Foreign Wars is proud to announce it is teaming up with Gratitude Initiative to provide vital support for the children of service members and veterans.

Co-founded by former Army Captain and Operations Desert Shield/Storm veteran, Lee Sechrist, Gratitude Initiative's College Success Academy program utilizes degreed counselors and an online environment to provide full-service college and career preparatory support for veteran and military children all over the world at no cost to the family.

America's military families face unique educational challenges, as children of active-duty service members are often required to relocate between six and twelve times before graduating high school. With more than 2 million military children having a parent on active duty, 66 percent struggle with academic and school-related issues.

"The VFW's more than 1.16 million members understand better than most the strains and hardship military life can put on not only service members,...

Andover, Mass. and Kansas City, Mo. (October 16, 2019) - For the first time ever, U.S. veterans will be able to receive U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs (VA) health services at their local Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) or American Legion (Legion) Posts through a multi-site pilot program dubbed ATLAS (Accessing Telehealth through Local Area Stations).

This first-of-its-kind telehealth initiative is the product of an alliance between the VFW, VA, global health care leader Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) and The American Legion, which allows veterans to conduct virtual appointments with their VA providers without having to travel to a distant VA regional medical facility or outpatient clinic.

"Our goal is to make sure every veteran has access to health care," said VA Secretary, Robert Wilkie. "ATLAS eliminates another health care hurdle for Veterans living in rural areas or with limited Internet access, and it's a great example of how public and private organizations can work together to solve the challenges of healt...

GEORGETOWN, Texas - Getting a haircut now through Veterans Day will support service member and veteran scholarships as a part of Sport Clips Haircuts annual "Help A Hero" campaign that kicks off in stores today. The Help A Hero Scholarship program is designed to reduce the burden of college, graduate and technical school tuition often needed to pursue post-military careers and is administered by the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. (VFW). The goal this year is to raise $1.5 million toward scholarships in the more than 1,800 Sport Clips Haircuts stores across the country.

In just six years, 1,450 military and student veterans have been awarded Sport Clips Help A Hero Scholarships with the nearly $6.5 million donated to date by Sport Clips Haircuts, its clients and product partners. These sc...

KANSAS CITY, Mo.- The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. is proud to team up with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on Friday, Oct. 11, to bring our Facebook followers an opportunity to get their questions answered regarding the latest VA is offering to address barriers to care for rural veterans.

During the event, experts will discuss how tools and technologies, including My HealtheVet, Telehealth and Mobile technologies help deliver care to veterans. VA experts Dr. Leonie Heyworth, VA Director of Synchronous Telehealth and Dr. Thomas Klobucar, Executive Director Office of Rural Health will speak with Ryan Gallucci, VFW Director, National Veterans Service. Our experts will discuss how these technologies improve access to care and share information about future enhancements of these tools and technologies.

Participating in the event is e...

KANSAS CITY, Mo.- The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. is still accepting applications for its popular Voice of Democracy and Patriot's Pen youth scholarship competitions, as well as its Teacher of the Year award.

Inspiring patriotism within our nation's youth has long been a top priority for the VFW, but with the Oct. 31 deadline fast approaching, time is running out to participate in this year's annual Voice of Democracy and Patriot's Pen student scholarship award competitions, and the Teacher of the Year award.

As one of the top student patriotic essay competitions in the nation, each year nearly 40,000 high school students compete in the VFW's Voice of Democracy...

WASHINGTON - The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States this week released the results of its latest nationwide survey on the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system from the veterans' point-of-view. Now in its seventh edition, the VFW created "Our Care" in the aftermath of the nationwide crisis in access to care and confidence that enveloped the VA in 2014, and the ensuing legislative corrective actions that followed. More than 6,900 veterans participated in the latest edition, bringing the total number of "Our Care" respondents to more than 33,000 veterans from every state, territory, and the District of Columbia.

"The VFW prides itself on having the ability to take the pulse of veterans, especially in evaluating what works at the VA and what doesn't," said VFW National Commander William J. "Doc" Schmitz, of Corning, N.Y. "Veterans turn to VA for high-quality, individualized care, but there is always room for improvement, especially in the areas of access to quali...

KANSAS CITY, MO. - On Sept. 29, the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. is celebrating its 120th year as our nation's largest and most accomplished combat veterans service organization.

In 1899, in a small tailor shop in the heart of Columbus, Ohio, 13 Spanish-American War veterans allied together with a determined resolve to fight for the justly earned care and benefits our nation's warriors deserved. With no way of knowing if their mission would survive beyond their lifetimes, their perseverance ultimately paved the way for the multifaceted organization the VFW has become today.

For the past 120 years, the VFW has remained the voice for veterans on Capitol Hill where it has played a key role in nearly every piece of veterans' legislation passed since the start of the 20th century. It was the driving force behind the restoration of benefits to 100,000 Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange through the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019. It worked to expand college education benefits thro...

WASHINGTON - The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. is proud to announce that Wounded Warrior Project^® has renewed a service officer grant in the amount of $410,000 that will continue to help more transitioning military to receive their earned disability compensation benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs. WWP has now provided grants totaling more than $2.2 million to support VFW's Pre-Discharge Claims Program, an effort that last year enabled the VFW to file thousands of claims on behalf of transitioning military servicemen and women on two dozen of America's largest military installations. Collectively, VFW's nationwide cadre of 2,100 VA-accredited service officers helped more than 525,000 veterans to secure $8.3 billion in earned disability benefits in fiscal year 2018. Membership in the VFW is not required to receive its free, professional claim...

WASHINGTON - The Department of Defense announced plans last week to divert $3.6 billion in military construction funds to build or replace 175 miles of southern border fencing. The reprogramming of funds will significantly delay the start or completion of 127 military construction projects, half of which are overseas. The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States is monitoring the issue closely, as its senior leaders are well attuned to the housing and associated quality of life construction project needs of the military community, to include the impact that the decision may have on some 3,000 active-duty military personnel and 2,000 National Guardsmen currently deployed to the southern border in support of Department of Homeland Security officials.

While the VFW understands and supports the need to...

WASHINGTON - The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States is applauding the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, who in a 2-1 decision Monday, correctly ruled for the plaintiffs in Wolfe v. Wilkie. The class action lawsuit was the result of the Department of Veterans Affairs failing to fully reimburse veterans for the emergency room care they received from non-VA facilities, an issue the VFW had thought solved in 2016 when the same court ruled in favor of Staab v. Shulkin. But a report released last month by the VA Office of Inspector General found that the non-VA emergency room claims of some 17,400 veterans were denied or rejected primarily due to a VA work culture tha...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. is mourning the loss of Past Commander-in-Chief John A. Biedrzycki, who passed away yesterday, August 29, 2019.

John A. Biedrzycki was elected national commander of the VFW on July 22, 2015, at the organization's 116th national convention, held in Pittsburgh, Pa.

John served in the U. S. Army from 1967 to 1970. He served in Korea as a Pay Distribution Specialist with the 7th Infantry Division. His decorations include the National Defense Service Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and Korean Defense Medal.

He joined the VFW in 1969 at Post 418 in McKees Rocks, Pa., where he was a Legacy Life member. He served in elected and appointed positions at the Post, County, District and Department (state) levels culminating with his election as Department Commander 2002-2003 in which he achieved All-American status. On the national level, John served on many committees, including Chairman of the National VFW Programs Com...

WASHINGTON - The Veterans of Foreign Wars is very concerned that the dependent children of U.S. service members and government employees stationed overseas, and who are also legal permanent residents of the U.S., may face difficulty returning to the United States.

The concern arose from an update published Wednesday by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) that rescinds a previous policy. The main concern to VFW National Commander William "Doc" Schmitz is that the new USCIS policy specifically targets dependent children of U.S. military personnel and U.S. government employees.

"The big question is why target dependent children?" asks Schmitz. "This has a huge negative impact on the morale of those in the fight, supporting the fight, or who are projecting America's presence around the world," he said. "To intentionally target these children who are born to legal permane...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Together with longtime supporter Sport Clips Haircuts, the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. is proud to announce its "Sport Clips Help A Hero Scholarship" program has surpassed awarding $6.4 million in scholarships to more than 1,450 military and student veterans. The latest fall semester award of nearly $762,000 will help to ensure 165 student veterans attending colleges across the country are one step closer to achieving their educational goals.

"Veterans transitioning from military to civilian life face a host of challenges, but together with our friends at Sport Clips we're able to ensure that struggling to finance their last semesters of college isn't one," said VFW National Commander Doc Schmitz.

Established in 2014, the Help A Hero Scholarship program awards service members and veterans with post...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. is proud to announce it is working to restore the sounds of life for VFW members and their families with significant savings on hearing care through its new relationship with Amplifon Hearing Health Care. This newest member benefit is one of several the VFW has recently rolled out, to help ensure its members have the best access to meaningful savings and benefits.

Currently, one in nine Americans suffer from hearing loss, and veterans are even more likely to experience hearing loss due to their military experience and exposure to situations where noise levels easily exceed the threshold where damage starts.

Amplifon is the nation's largest independent provider of hearing health care solutions with a network of over 5,700 credentialed provider locations nationwide, enabling people to obtain hearing care solutions averaging 62% off retail pricing.

"Hearing plays such a vital role in a person's daily life, and too often veterans suffer in...

WASHINGTON - The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States and Student Veterans of America (SVA) are now accepting applications from student veterans who are interested in participating in the upcoming 2020 VFW-SVA Legislative Fellowship program. The fellowship, now in its sixth year, will bring up to 10 student veterans - who must be VFW members - to Washington early next March to meet face-to-face with their members of Congress and senior policy makers.

Student veterans interested in applying for the 2020 VFW-SVA Legislative Fellowship must complete an application package that includes a 1,500-word or less essay that proposes legislative improvements to one of the following four specific veterans' issues:

• Student veteran success on campus and beyond;
• Improving veteran's health care and benefits;
• Transition from military to civilian life; or
• Challenges for service members and military families.

The essay proposal should include a discussion of w...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - William J. "Doc" Schmitz, of Corning, N.Y., has been elected the new leader of the 1.2 million-member Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, a congressionally-chartered veterans service organization comprised of eligible veterans and military service members from all five branches of the armed forces.

Schmitz's election to VFW Commander-in-Chief occurred at the conclusion of the organization's 120th national convention in Orlando, Fla., which drew approximately 10,000 veterans, and military family members.

Each year, VFW members from around the globe representing a myriad of conflicts converge at the event. Their mission during the weeklong convention is to approve new national priorities to guide the organization in its advocacy and business efforts throughout the ensuing year.

Schmitz takes office during a time of great momentum for the organization which recently announced its first increase in membership numbers in 27 years, reached a milestone achievement of more...

KANSAS CITY, Mo.- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie will be joining more than 10,000 members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States and its Auxiliary at the 120th VFW National Convention as it convenes this Saturday through July 24 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. The business sessions are closed to the public, but a free, two-day weekend veterans walk-in claims clinic and four-day health fair are accessible to all veterans, service members and their families in West Hall C-WD1.

"It's been 11 years since our last national convention was held in Orlando, so it is great to be back!" exclaimed VFW National Commander B.J. Lawrence, of Alamogordo, N.M., "and we are honored to have two cabinet secretaries join us next week, as well as recognize some very deserving individuals with the VFW's highest national awards," he said.

"We hope to hear Secretary Pompeo address issues, challenges and successes as it pertains t...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The 120-year-young Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States just added almost 25,000 members to snap a 27-year decline in membership.

America's largest and oldest war veterans' organization began its new membership year earlier this month with almost 1.165 million members, a million less than its peak in 1992, yet significant nonetheless, according to VFW National Commander B.J. Lawrence, who attributes the growth to the organization being more visible on the national scene as well as in more than 6,000 communities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, four U.S. territories, and 11 foreign countries.

"The VFW is making a difference in the lives of countless others every day, and thanks to the power of social media and the internet, more people are taking notice and wanting to be part of our team," said Lawrence.

"The internet allows us to share our story of service to others, and social media allows us to engage not only with our members but with potential members,...

WASHINGTON - In advance of this weekend's start of the 120th National Convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States in Orlando, Fla., the VFW national commander is asking all Vietnam veterans to search through their closets and footlockers for documents that might help Vietnam to determine the fate of an estimated 300,000 missing Vietnamese, and personal effects that might help bring comfort to their families.

"It is important for the Vietnam generation to recognize that the personal connection they have with their memorabilia will not transfer to their descendants, which means such items will either be donated or simply trashed," said VFW National Commander B.J. Lawrence. "And even though it's been over a half-century for most Vietnam veterans, now is still a great time to help solidify our government's relationship with Vietnam, and to help make a difference in the lives of other families half a world away."

Lawrence said VFW senior leaders have traveled back to Vietnam every year ...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. is proud to announce the selection of the top three winners of its 2018 - 2019 Scout of the Year scholarship competition.

Enacted in 2001, the Scout of the Year competition was designed to reward eligible members of the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Venturing Crew or Sea Scouts who have risen above their peers in exemplifying standout citizenship, patriotism and love of country with college scholarships of up to $5,000.

This year's first-place winner, Elizabeth Bock, was sponsored by VFW Post 3208 in Sierra Madre, Calif. She was selected for her activism with local youth and government programs, dedication to serving others and her work advocating for women's issues and gender equality. As the first-place recipient, Elizabeth will receive a $5,000 college scholarship.

Owen Sumter, sponsored by VFW Post 9675 in Bellevue, Neb., was selected as the second-place winner for his notable community service work, his work supporting the homeless com...

WASHINGTON - The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. is proud to announce the selection of Terry "Mike" Eshenbaugh as the VFW Accredited Service Representative of the Year.

Eshenbaugh, who is employed by the Texas Veterans Commission as the VFW Department of Texas service officer, is an integral part of the VFW's worldwide network of more than 2,100 accredited service officers who last year helped more than 526,000 veterans to recoup $8.3 billion in earned disability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Accredited means VA accreditation, which allows VFW Service Officers to assist and file VA claims on behalf of veterans and transitioning service members, as well as to provide representation before the Board of Veterans Appeals if needed. The support is free to all honorably discharged veterans and is a continuation of the VFW's "service to others" mission that the organization began one century ago after returning World War I veterans faced the same government neglect as the VFW's foref...