When Evan Tyler Cruz became active with VFW in 2022, the first thing he inspired in his fellow Post 904 members in Loomis, California, was to find new ways to serve veterans. A skilled arborist with experience in managing sick and fallen trees, Cruz joined Post 904 Senior Vice Commander and Service Officer Shawn Simmons…

Despite inclement weather and frigid temperatures, more than 100 veterans attended the first-ever VFW Department of Missouri’s District 5 “Veterans Helping Veterans.” Held on the manicured lawn of the National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Mo., on Oct. 28, the event was hosted by District 5 to help connect local veterans…

Four VFW Posts on Long Island, New York, were selected this year to receive grants from the Suffolk County Grant Program. The grants are funded through the Suffolk County Veterans Marathon & Half Marathon, which just celebrated its eighth year. Lindenhurst Post 7279, Rocky Point Post 6249, Sayville Post 433 and Huntington Station Post 1469…

With the weight of his son on his shoulders, Mathius Carter walked down to the hockey rink inside a crowded Allstate Arena for the Chicago Wolves’ opening ceremony on Military Appreciation Night in March 2022. The Wolves’ staff had told him it was a spectacle, selling his 5-year-old son on the idea of a great…

A VFW in the Rust Belt donated $20,000 to local fire and police departments earlier this year. VFW Post 3343 in Clyde, Ohio, gave the Clyde Fire and Police departments $10,000 each, which will be used for much-needed equipment for the first responders. VFW Post 3343 Commander Brian Moore said it is important for the…

Vietnam veteran Tony Blount remembers when he and his late wife, Amy, went through hard times when they were younger. The couple – both of whom were 100 percent disabled veterans – had to utilize food banks to make ends meet. When the duo had the opportunity to give back, they formed West Plains Angels…