Veterans' Groups

The Veterans of Foreign Wars, or VFW, is an American organization whose members are current or former members of the U.S. armed forces. more...

To be eligible for membership, an individual must have earned an overseas campaign or expeditionary medal, and must either currently be on active duty or in the Reserve Component, or have been honorably discharged from the U.S. armed forces. VFW once forbade atheists from joining, but in January of 2004 they rescinded this policy. By specifying overseas service, the organization excluded veterans from the American Civil War.

The VFW was formed in 1899 by veterans of the Spanish-American War.

VFW works on behalf of American veterans by lobbying Congress for better veterans' health care and benefits. The VFW also maintains a nationwide organization of employees and volunteers to assist veterans with their VA disability claims. VFW also donates hundreds of thousands of dollars and millions of hours for community service. One of their most popular programs, Operation Uplink, provides free phone cards to overseas servicemembers.

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