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Some people simply assume that any veterans' organization with a little history behind it is a politically conservative group made up of older, male veterans. Emphatically, the DAV doesn't fit that stereotype. Membership with the DAV is open to any honorably discharged veteran with a disability incurred in wartime military service or under conditions similar to war.
Veterans disabled during the Vietnam War make up a third of the DAV's membership, and 13 Vietnam veterans have served one-year terms as national commander, the DAV's highest office. Veterans who served during Vietnam or later make up all of the DAV's management and professional staff at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., and Cincinnati, Ohio, as well as its offices nationwide.
The DAV is not a political association. Its members reflect all shades of American political opinion. They count on the DAV to advocate their needs as disabled veterans, and the DAV concentrates its attention and resources on this single, nonpartisan concern. Unlike some other veterans' groups, the DAV has no political action committee and does not endorse candidates for political office. Several women have attained leadership positions in the DAV.
DAV programs and activities also enjoy the support of an
Auxiliary that focuses its attention on disabled
veterans' families. Women in the Auxiliary are all
relatives of DAV members, Gold Star mothers or wives, or
women who are also members of the DAV.
Frederick Powers
DAV 2007 Top Recruiter of the Year
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