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Air Force veteran Brian Koetting is a fine example of the old adage ‘mother knows best.’
“I enlisted in 1963 as a result of my mother calling a recruiter after I had been “released” from high school numerous times,” says Koetting. “I had no idea what the military even was at that point.”
DAV Deputy National Legislative Director Adrian Atizado discusses the VA Mission Act that went into effect on June 6. The act seeks to bring healthcare closer to the community via mobile clinics as well as a new virtual "telehealth" process, which connects patients and doctors through a phone or computer.
Watch the video to h...
“My father was in the U.S. Army Air Corps during WWII, and then helped document the Holocaust for Eisenhower’s HQ,” says Adam Taichi Kraft. “My maternal grandfather served in the Japanese Imperial Guard (Mounted Imperial Protection) during the same war.”
Though Kraft’s grandfathers served on op...
When John Kuplast enlisted in the Marine Corps, he was fulfilling a family tradition. His father, grandfather, uncle and two cousins served their country and, like them, Kuplast wanted to serve his country and defend the flag.
“The Marine Corps provided me many opportunities and taught me teamwork, respect and honor, and courage,...
Xavier Cortez was unemployed, renovating his home and chasing a commercial drone job that wasn’t steady enough for full-time employment.
But none of that kept him from preparing for – and seizing – an opportunity for a job that he “couldn’t pass up.”
Cortez, a 43-year-old Navy v...
Raymond Bannister felt as though he’d exhausted every effort to find a new job. The Navy veteran had sent out hundreds of resumes, but four months after being laid off, he had yet to find work.
Bannister and his wife were on the verge of packing up their things, leaving their home, and moving into a friend’s...
In the Garrett household, military service was something of a legacy.
“It was a family tradition for male members to join after high school, and I wanted to become independent and self-sufficient, and I knew the service would provide that,” said Air Force veteran William Garrett.
At a maximum speed of 170 mph, tornadoes ripped through Alabama earlier this month leaving a swath of damage that ran 26.73 miles long and 1600 yards wide. Far too many families saw the deepest of devastation as 23 people died in the twisters’ wake.
When disaster struck, DAV was on the ground in Alabama providing critical assista...
Jim Byrnes is an engineer by trade and education; he is a supporter of veterans by action.
“I’ve had a very full career and retired in 2005,” says Jim. “I was with the VA, in the construction program, and designed and built VA hospitals. I’m not a veteran, but I would like to think that 33 years work...
Navy veteran Ken Hoffman felt like some of the workplaces he’d encountered simply did not give veterans a chance, but a visit to a DAV/RecruitMilitary All-Veterans Career Fair put him in front of employers who were looking for the very skills he had to offer.
“I went to the Cincinnati job fair with a fellow...
Air Force veteran Mike Rhilinger served his country for 19 years. But it wasn’t long after completing his military service that he discovered there were other ways he could continue to serve in a different capacity.
Today, Rhilinger, a DAV benefits advocate, makes a difference in the lives of his fellow veterans by being of servi...
Amy Bahl was a 25-year-old combat medic with the Iowa National Guard when she was deployed 2003. She spent a year in Iraq – away from her five-year-old son, Austin – treating gunshot wounds and injuries sustained from roadside bombs and IEDs. She did her best to fix and save as many people as she could.
“My day-to-day...
Melissa Pierce’s parents—both veterans and DAV members—taught her and her sibling the importance of giving of their time and doing for others.
“[With] both of my parents, being active in DAV, it meant we kids were also,” says Pierce. As a child, she remembers pitching in with activities for veterans such a...
Before he left the military in September 2012, Marine veteran Wade Jensen submitted a claim through Benefits Delivery at Discharge, a program that allows service members to apply for disability compensation 60 to 180 days prior to their separation, retirement or release from active duty.
Wade had served his country for 21 years until t...
