DAV Magazine

1 month ago | dav.org | Elizabeth DePompei

One of the last memories Women’s Army Corps veteran Patricia Hendrix has of her brother is preserved in an old black-and-white photo that she often carries with her. In the photo, her two adult siblings, Billy and Jack Rodgers, cradle Hendrix, their 5-year-old sister, in their arms. Both men soon went on to serve in the military. Jack retired from the Navy and had a family. Billy chose the Army; his family never saw him again. For 70 years, Sgt. Billy V. Rodgers was considered missing in action (MIA).

1 month ago | dav.org | Daniel Contreras

DAV is an organization of veterans helping veterans. The reasons are as individual as our members. Some join for the fellowship at our more than 1,200 local chapters. Some for the inspiring national events. Others for opportunities to serve their fellow veterans and their families. And many join to continue the fight to support the rights and benefits of all veterans. DAV understands the needs of veterans because we are veterans—1 million strong.

1 month ago | dav.org | Elizabeth DePompei

It’s been more than 75 years since women were allowed to officially serve in the armed forces. But restrictions on how they could serve persisted for decades. Until 1967, women could only make up 2% of the total forces. If they became pregnant or adopted a child, they could be discharged. The policy restricting them from combat wasn’t reversed until 2013, and not all military specialties were open to women until 2016.

2 months ago | dav.org | Kevin Miller

Each year, DAV members gather at the organization’s national convention to help determine its legislative goals. These targeted issue areas serve as guideposts for DAV’s legislative team members in Washington, D.C., who advocate for laws that will improve the lives of veterans and their families, caregivers and survivors. “DAV’s stance on legislative issues is determined by the adoption of resolutions each year at our national convention.

2 months ago | dav.org | Elizabeth DePompei

In 1892, Civil War veteran John Henry Murphy Sr. used $200 in venture capital from his wife, Martha, to buy a printing press. It was an opportunity that would have been impossible before the war, when he was still enslaved. The war gave Murphy—and nearly 200,000 other Black men—a pathway to freedom. As a free man, he created The Afro-American newspaper, now a media company known as the AFRO and the third-oldest Black-owned business in the country.