History of VVnW & The Veterans Coalition
The Veterans of the Vietnam War, Inc. is a Pennsylvania non-profit corporation founded in 1978 to seek help for and to further the cause of all Veterans. The Veterans of the Vietnam War, Inc. (VVnW) & The Veterans Coalition welcomes members from all branches of service, Navy, Marines, Army, Air Force or Coast Guard, from all eras, wars and conflicts and its services are available to all veterans and military.
Please do not stop reading - this is how we started and how we have grown, embraced, honored and evolved for the betterment of all Veterans.
The Department of Veterans Affairs recognized the VVnW as a Veterans Service Organization on April 17, 1995. VVnW Veteran Service Officers are authorized to process claims from the regional office through to the Bureau of Veterans Appeals.
The VVnW and The Veterans Coalition is active in Veteran’s homeless issues through our United Veterans Beacon House Project (UVBH). UVBH provides transitional housing to homeless Veterans regardless of period of service as they attempt to reintegrate into society. The UVBH provides a continuum of care taking the Veteran from DVA hospitals and allowing the Veteran a six month to two-year stay while completing a rehabilitation/reintegrationprogram. Inclusive in the UVBH concept is on-going psychological and medical care, employment counseling, drug and alcohol counseling, transportation to and from job sites as well as living space until the Veteran can function on his/her own.
For nearly 25 years the VVnW has continuously provided assistance to Veterans in the area of trauma counseling and referral. Through our “800” number we have handled many hundreds of thousands of crisis calls and referred Veterans to the appropriate agencies.
Our members are active in educating the public about the debilitating effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Gulf War Syndrome.
Throughout the years, the VVnW and The Veterans Coalition has been active in the controversy surrounding the effects of the use of herbicides in Vietnam. We educate the public about the effects of herbicides on individual’s health as well as educating the Veteran population to its effects. We have actively advocated for benefits for Veterans from their exposure to herbicides as well as assisting veterans in obtaining the benefits earned by them for their service.
Veterans of the Gulf War Era have experienced similar debilitating health conditions that should be associated with their service. These same Veterans have had their health suffer from tainted and multi-strain vaccine injections along with many unknown agents. VVnW and The Veterans Coalition actively supports and lobbies on their behalf.
POW/MIAs still unaccounted for from all wars are kept in the focus of the American public through the POW/MIA Program. The VVnW and The Veterans Coalition believes that when one member of the Armed Forces is not worth the effort to be found, then we have lost our honor.
The VVnW and The Veterans Coalition funds and maintains our “FIND-A-VET” Program and has created a database of veterans who served in Vietnam. This database allows many veterans to be re-united with those they served with in Vietnam. Other databases can be set up for other conflicts if there is a need or interest.
The Veterans of the Vietnam War, Inc. & The Veterans Coalition maintains a program for incarcerated Veterans to assist them in their re-integration into society. Over the next few years over 300,000 Veterans will be released from prison into a world they do not know, a world where they will need support, encouragement and direction to include housing and jobs.
We maintain and promote an education program about the Vietnam experience. This program is designed for presentation at both the grade school and high school levels.
The Veteran Leader, published quarterly by the VVnW and The Veterans Coalition, provides the most current information on many areas of interest to Veterans and their families as well as current updates on the organization’s many programs.
Flag Awareness is an important program of the VVnW and The Veterans Coalition. A flag protocol tri-fold of information is available upon request.
On a national and local level, the Veterans of the Vietnam War, Inc. & The Veterans Coalition and our posts are active in community activities – they distribute flags, participate in parades, sponsor food drives, operate Military Support Package goods drives, join in waterways rehabilitation projects, host fundraisers for the VVnW and The Veterans Coalition programs, support active duty military personnel with our Military Support Package Project, provide Support Our Troops signs throughout their areas, help guarantee a proper burial for indigent Veterans, and work on obtaining a reciprocal health agreement for Veterans who have been displaced through discrimination, rejection and/or travel. Our posts are part of their communities and society.
The Veterans of the Vietnam War, Inc. & The Veterans Coalition is truly an international organization of Veterans dedicated to assisting Veterans of all wars and all branches of service through our programs and services; an organization that participates in our communities.
We Are Our Brother’s Keeper.
The Veterans Coalition evolved out of a desire to embrace, support, encourage and welcome ALL VETERANS no matter when, where or how they served – it just matters that they served!
We seek the support of other than Vietnam Veterans to educate, assist and support those Veterans within their era that are not coping and are having difficulties after their service to their country. We want YOU and welcome you as a member of this great organization.
Members are the lifeblood of all organizations and we ask you to consider joining the Veterans of the Vietnam War, Inc. & the Veterans Coalition.
