The VFW traces its roots back to 1899 when veterans of the Spanish-American War (1898) and the Philippine Insurrection (1899-1902) founded local organizations to secure rights and benefits for their service: Many arrived home wounded or sick. There was no medical care or veterans' pension for them,and they were left to care for themselves. 

In their misery, some of these veterans banded together and formed organizations with what would become known as the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States. After chapters were formed in Ohio, Colorado and Pennsylvania, the movement quickly gained momentum. By 1915, membership grew to 5,000; by 1936, membership was almost 200,000. 

     Since then, the VFW's voice had been instrumental in establishing the Veterans Administration, creating a GI bill for the 20th century, the development of the national cemetery system and the fight for compensation for Vietnam vets exposed to Agent Orange and for veterans diagnosed with Gulf War Syndrome. In 2008, VFW won a long-fought victory with the passing of a GI Bill for the 21st Century, giving expanded educational benefits to America's active-duty service members, and members of the Guard and Reserves, fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. The VFW also has fought for improving VA medical centers services for women veterans.

      The VFW established a network of National, State, and Post Service Officers who work on claims resulting from military service. These Service Officers are authorised by our congressional charter to aid and  advocate for eligible veterans, their spouses and dependants.

 

Clicking on the highlighted National  will take you to the national benefits page. For Post Service Officers, this page also contains the current Service Offficer Manual in PDF format.

 

Clicking on the highlighted State will take you to the Dept. of Michigan Service Office site 

 

Both sites have a lot of good information which is why these links were used instead of trying to present it on this page. Besides they know more than we do.