The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) was established on September 29, 1899, to support U.S. veterans who served in a foreign conflict. It has since grown to a notable organization advocating for rights and benefits of all veterans.
The VFW Congressional Charter was incorporated on May 28, 1936 as it is a federally chartered corporation representing veterans who served in foreign wars.
The VFW’s Mission and Purpose is to foster camaraderie among veterans of overseas conflicts, advocate for veteran’s rights, provide support to veterans and their families, and provide for the communities where our fellow comrades live. Members dedicate countless hours to ensure this mission and purpose is achieved and are committed to spreading patriotism and honoring our nation’s heroes.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9194 was created on June 25th,1979 in Laredo, TX. Since 1979, the VFW has been serving the community and all veterans in any way possible. Throughout the years, the VFW had lost its way. However, three members of the VFW Post 9194 pleaded with organization officials not to shut them down. The three members promised to change their image of the past and were successful in transforming the VFW to the venerable organization we know today. Since then, the VFW Post 9194 has been able to achieve success in helping the community. Some of those achievements include building a home for a veteran who was in need of shelter, donating a monument to honor all Gold Star Mothers, donating turkeys to veterans, giving continuous support to the Bella Strong organization, helping the Boy Scouts of America purchase an enclosed trailer, holding numerous fundraisers for other nonprofit organizations, sending Laredo’s very own Jennifer “La Traviesa” to Paris to participate in the Olympics, continuously volunteering in community events and building relationships with other organizations to help strengthen the community. The success of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9194 comes down to the members who have unselfishly given their hearts, time and effort to the cause. For these reasons and more, VFW has and will continue to succeed with the promise to always be there for the community when they need them the most.
Their core values:
• Always put the interests of members first
• Promote patriotism
• Honor military service
• Ensure the care of veterans & their families
• Serve (their) community
• Promote a positive image of the VFW … and
• Respect the diversity of veteran opinions