Vote for the VFW to win $250,000 to support military personnel and their families!

VFW Foundation is in the running to receive a $250,000 "Pepsi Refresh" grant. Beginning June 1st go to www.Refresheverything.com/ReturnTheFavor and vote for the VFW Return the Favor campaign. Your vote for the VFW's "Return the Favor" project will support the unmet needs of U.S. military personnel and their families. Beginning June 1st, you can vote for the VFW once a day, every day, during the month of June. The organization with the most votes win. Please vote for the VFW throughout the month of June; the troops, veterans and their families need your help. Share this with friends to help VFW get the most votes. They have done so much for us...Let's RETURN THE FAVOR!

Memorial Day to Remain Sacred Holiday Thanks to VFW Member

“Memorial Day is not a day for celebration. We are supposed to show respect and gratitude for our heroes who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom,” states Mike Esmond, a VFW member and Vietnam War veteran.

In recent years, Esmond has been appalled to see fireworks being sold at his local Winn Dixie and Wal-Mart stores in the days leading up to Memorial Day. He decided something needed to be done to stop the “celebration” of this day.

“Over the years, Memorial Day seems to have lost its meaning. I think the younger generation is losing sight of what the holiday is truly for,” Esmond said, “If we don’t teach these young folks the true meaning of Memorial Day, who will?”

Esmond decided to start writing letters to the Wal-Marts and Winn Dixies of the U.S. explaining the importance of the holiday and what a disgrace it is to him and other veterans, to sell fireworks in “celebration” of a day that should be observed with honor and remembrance of those that gave their lives for this country.

At first, the stores’ representatives responded to the letters by explaining that they have a responsibility to provide their customers with the products they want to purchase, but Esmond and other veterans who joined in on the campaign were not taking no for an answer. The letters continued to pour in and eventually, Esmond and his fellow veterans’ efforts were rewarded.

It was a long battle, but through Esmond’s letter writing campaign, beginning this year, no fireworks will be sold at any Wal-Mart or Winn Dixie in the United States until after the Memorial Day holiday. In fact, Wal-Mart even thanked Esmond for his persistence and guidance on the matter.

“If we don’t remember where we came from, how can we know how to move forward?” Esmond concluded, “We need to remember the past and those sacrifices people made.”

Anonymous Donor Ups Stolen Memorial Reward by $100,000!

Washington D.C., May 13, 2010 — The reward fund for the cross-shaped Mojave Desert Veterans Memorial that was stolen Sunday night just increased from $25,000 to $125,000, thanks to the generosity of a decorated combat veteran who wishes to remain anonymous.

"We are extremely grateful for the $100,000 contribution to the Mojave Desert Veterans Memorial reward fund that the nonprofit group, Family Security Matters, was able to arrange from a private donor," said Thomas J. Tradewell Sr., national commander of the 2.1 million-member Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. and its Auxiliaries.

"We may never know the donor's name, but the VFW wants to personally thank him for caring enough to get involved," he said. "These thieves desecrated a national war memorial that was erected to honor America's war dead. They must be caught, prosecuted and jailed in a federal prison, and we hope that will happen quickly now that the total reward money has been upped to $125,000."

Carol A. Taber, president of Family Security Matters, said she was honored to provide the donation on behalf of an anonymous, combat-wounded veteran and Silver Star recipient.

"We are confident that our donor's generosity will help to bring the criminals to justice," she said, "and that the message rings loud and clear that we will never allow such a vile crime that defiles the memory of our nation's war dead to stand — not now, not ever."

Anyone with information relating to the crime should call the National Park Service Tip Line at 1-760-252-6120. The reward money is for information that directly leads to the apprehension and conviction of the thieves. To contribute to the reward fund, go to the Mojave Desert Veterans Memorial website at www.DontTearMeDown.com.

Mojave Desert Memorial Torn Down!

Reward offered to catch and prosecute vandals

Washington D.C., May 11, 2010 — The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. learned yesterday that the cross-shaped veterans' memorial in the Mojave Desert was torn down Sunday night by someone or persons with no respect for the dead or the nation's laws.

"This was a legal fight that a vandal just made personal to 50 million veterans, military personnel and their families," said VFW National Commander Thomas J. Tradewell, Sr. "To think anyone can rationalize the desecration of a war memorial is sickening, and for them to believe they won't be apprehended is very naive.

"The memorial will be rebuilt and the vandals will be caught and prosecuted in federal court, since the crime occurred on government property," said Tradewell, a combat-wounded Vietnam veteran from Sussex, Wis. "We hope this horrible act will highlight the importance of resolving this case quickly so that the memorial and land can be transferred to the VFW so that the service and sacrifice of all American war dead will be properly recognized and honored, as originally intended by a group of World War I VFW members 76 years ago."

A reward is now being offered through the Liberty Institute, which represented the VFW, American Legion, Military Order of the Purple Heart, and American Ex-Prisoners of War in an amicus brief involving the 76-year-old war memorial in the Supreme Court case of Salazar v. Buono.

Anyone with information relating to this crime can leave a message on a National Park Service Tip Line that will soon be posted on the Mojave Desert Veterans Memorial website at www.donttearmedown.com.

Caregiver Legislation Becomes Law

Families, women veterans, rural veterans to benefit

Washington D.C., May 6, 2010 — The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. is saluting the president for signing into law yesterday the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act (S. 1963), a bipartisan bill introduced last fall by Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii).

"This new law will go a long way to helping our injured Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their families who care for them," said VFW National Commander Thomas J. Tradewell Sr., a combat-wounded Vietnam veteran from Sussex, Wis. "This new law honors the commitment our nation made to her veterans."

The new law will expand support programs for the family caregivers of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, as well as the family caregivers of all veterans, to include training and education assistance, counseling and mental health services, and respite care. It will improve the services VA currently provides to female veterans, such as establishing a childcare pilot program, providing seven days of post delivery care to newborns, and training mental health professionals who care for women veterans affected by military sexual trauma. It will also improve healthcare to veterans residing in rural areas, prohibit VA from collecting copayments from catastrophically injured veterans, and enhance homeless programs and initiatives.

"The new law recognizes and supports family caregivers who leave jobs and careers to care for their severely injured loved ones," said Tradewell. "It recognizes that women veterans must be served better by a VA that's geared primarily to treating men, and it addresses the challenges of serving veterans in rural parts of our country, as well as homeless veterans on the streets of our cities.

"As an early supporter of S. 1963, the VFW is proud to have worked with members of Congress and their staffs to make this new law happen, to include Chairman Akaka's seven Senate cosponsors — VA Committee ranking member Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Mark Begich (D-Alaska) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) — and House VA Committee Chairman Bob Filner (D-Calif.) and House VA Health Subcommittee Chairman Michael Michaud (D-Maine)."