official seal of the dav abbreviation dav motto fulfilling our promises to the men and women who served formation september 25 1920 ; 96 years ago 1920 09 25 founder robert marx type veterans organization headquarters cold spring kentucky official language english national commander david w. riley national adjutant j. marc burgess publication dave s magazine subsidiaries dav auxiliary dav auxiliary juniors website http www.dav.org the disabled american veterans or dav is an organization chartered by the united states congress for disabled military veterans of the united states armed forces that helps them and their families through various means . it currently has nearly 1.3 million members . charity navigator does not rate the dav as it is a 501 c 4 organization . it does rate the disabled american veterans charitable service trust . 1 contents 1 history 2 seal 3 benefits assistance 4 outreach programs 4.1 mobile service office 4.2 veterans information seminars 4.3 homeless veterans initiative 4.4 dav disaster relief grants 5 dav auxiliary 5.1 junior members 6 jesse brown scholarship 7 george h. seal memorial trophy 8 see also 9 references 10 external links history edit in the aftermath of world war i disabled veterans in the united states found themselves seriously disadvantaged with little governmental support . 2 many of these veterans were blind deaf or mentally ill when they returned from the frontlines . an astonishing 204 000 americans in uniform were wounded during the war . the idea to form the disabled american veterans arose at a christmas party in 1920 hosted by cincinnati superior court judge robert marx a u.s. army captain and war world i veteran who had been injured in the meuse argonne offensive in november 1918 . although it had been functional for some months by that time the disabled american veterans of the world war davww was officially created on september 25 1921 at its first national caucus in hamilton county memorial hall in cincinnati ohio . 3 while touring across the u.s. as part of the election campaign of james m. cox judge marx publicized the new organization which quickly expanded . it held its first national convention in detroit michigan on june 27 1921 at which time marx was appointed the first national commander . in 1922 a women s auxiliary organization was founded . the davww continued working through the great depression to secure the welfare of disabled veterans although their efforts were troubled by fundraising challenges and the desire of the public to put the world war behind them . in the midst of these troubled years davww was issued a federal charter by congress on june 17 1932 . 4 dav thrift store westland michigan the demands of world war ii required the urgent expansion of the organization which officially changed its name to disabled american veterans to recognize the impact of the new war . 5 in 1941 dav launched a direct mail campaign distributing identotags miniature license plates which could be attached to a keyring with instructions that lost keys should be mailed to the davww who would return them to the owners . 4 in 1944 the dav began offering a national service officer training program at american university in washington the first step of education that completed with a two year mentorship program . in 1945 the dav expanded the idento tag program and brought the manufacturing in house eventually purchasing complete ownership of the program in 1950 . the program proved long lasting and highly successful both in bringing in donations and employing veterans in manufacture . by 1952 350 people were employed in the endeavor which brought in over 2 million a year in donations . 4 meanwhile the number of disabled veterans had been increased by the still ongoing korean war . 6 the dav suffered a decline in the later 1950s and into the 1960s with diminishing leadership and funds but it rallied around the veterans of the vietnam war and also focused heavily on working for prisoners of war and missing in action . 6 vietnam veterans soon filled the diminished ranks of the national service officers . on veterans day 1966 the dav moved its headquarters to cold spring kentucky . the following year the identotag program was discontinued in favor of providing address labels with a request for donation when changes in license plate practices made continuing the identotag program impracticable . the dav underwent substantial change in 1993 when internal arguments concerning the governance of the organization led to a watershed election that turned over the administration to new hands and the national service program was overhauled . 7 in 1998 dav national adjutant arthur wilson joined with philanthropist lois pope and for secretary for veterans affairs jesse brown to push for congressional authorization of the american veterans disabled for life memorial . 8 9 10 11 by the time fundraising was complete in 2010 the dav and its affiliates had raised more than 10 million for the memorial . 12 13 dedicaton of the memorial is set for october 5 2014 . 14 seal edit a military certificate inspired the official dav seal . the organization s seal has since its foundation featured a world war i soldier armed kneeling before columbia who dubs the man knight . the logo design was taken from certificates used in world war i for sick and wounded veterans . 5 a painting by the american painter edwin blashfield commissioned by the 28th president of the united states woodrow wilson the certificate featured above the words columbia gives to her son the accolade of the new chivalry of humanity and below the words served with honor in the world war and was wounded in action . 15 benefits assistance edit the disabled american veterans organization provides service free of charge through a nationwide network of 88 dav national service offices 38 transition service offices 198 dav hospital service coordinator offices 52 state level dav departments 249 dav va voluntary service representatives and more than 1900 local dav chapters . the disability transition assistance program dtap service provide free assistance to servicemembers at intake site pre discharge claims assistance locations at military installations by disabled american veterans transition service officers tso with treatment records filing initial claims for va benefits and confer with the u.s. department of defense the u.s. departments of veterans affairs and u.s. department of labor facilitators and other participants in the transition process from military life to civilian life . assistance completion and mailing of united states department of veterans affairs va forms on behalf of the veteran servicemember or survivor . response guidance for research and questions to veterans involving any type of disability compensation and medical services from the veterans health administration vha for service connected disabilities claims . response guidance to veterans their families and survivors about the veterans benefits administration vba disability compensation va pension programs veterans group life insurance vgli burial and interment allowances education programs such as the montgomery g.i. bill and the post vietnam era veterans educational assistance program veap va home loans the vocational rehabilitation and employment vr & e program or other miscellaneous benefits at the va regional office varo . assistance to veterans in reopening and filing completed claims for service connected or non service connected disabilities . assistance for completion the va form for veterans that are eligible individual unemployability iu benefits . assistance to veterans survivors who are filing any type of claim original or otherwise for benefits compensation and or pension with the va. filing of notice of disagreement forms with the va regional office for veterans . assistance to veterans and or surviving spouses to prepare and file appeals for claim denial with the va regional office and the united states court of appeals for veterans claims board in washington d.c. assistance in follow up on status of claims filed by veterans with the va regional office . free review of va denials of claim and filing of appropriate responses . transportation free of charge for veterans provided by the dav transportation network to ensure that wounded or ill veterans attend their medical appointments at veterans administration medical centers . the dav transportation network is administered by dav hospital service coordinators hscs . a free copy of the official bimonthly publication dav magazine . assistance during major disasters ; i.e. tornadoes floods etc. outreach programs edit mobile service office edit the dav s mobile service office mso program is designed to bring assistance for disabled veterans and their families living in geographic rural areas on veterans benefits filing claims and services closer to home by eliminating long trips for veterans to the national service offices . the dav s specially equipped mobile service offices offices on wheels visits communities according to the mso locations schedule . veterans information seminars edit this outreach program is design to educate veterans their families and survivors who are unaware of veterans government benefits and programs counseling and claims filing assistance service by dav s national service officers nso at communities throughout the country . veterans information seminars are free of charge to all veterans and do not have to be a member of dav to attend the veterans information seminars . dav s veterans information seminars are held at local dav chapters and community centers . homeless veterans initiative edit the disabled american veterans homeless veterans initiative is supported by the dav s charitable service trust and the columbia trust this initiative promotes the development of supportive housing and necessary services to assist homeless veterans become productive self sufficient members of society . the dav works with federal state county and city governments to develop programs to assist homeless veterans . it also coordinates with the va to get health care substance abuse treatment mental health services to put homeless veterans in transition to productive members of their community . dav disaster relief grants edit dav disaster relief grants may be issued for the purpose of providing food clothing and temporary shelter or to obtain relief from injury illness or personal loss resulting from natural national disasters that are not covered by insurance or other disaster relief agencies . since the dav disaster relief grants program inception in 1968 8.7 million has been disbursed to veterans that suffered losses during natural disasters . the applicant must be the victim of a natural national disaster . the applicant must be a service connected disabled veteran or the spouse thereof same household . the applicant s claimed loss must not be covered by insurance . the applicant s claimed loss must not be covered by other emergency relief agencies . dav auxiliary edit the dav auxiliary is the sister organization of the disabled american veterans . its mission statement is making a difference in the lives of disabled veterans and their families . members of the dav auxiliary include mothers wives sisters widows daughters stepdaughters granddaughters and legally adopted female lineal descendants of members of the dav . spouses fathers grandfathers and legally adopted male lineal descendants of female members of the dav are elegible for membership in the dav auxiliary . the family and extended family members of any person injured and may still be in active service in the united states armed forces and eligible for membership in the dav auxiliary . members of the dav auxiliary actively participate in programs such as americanism the dav transportation network veterans information seminars and community service . the dav auxiliary also provides volunteer assistance at department of veterans affairs medical centers vamc outpatient clinics opc community based outpatient clinics cboc and va community living centers clc . junior members edit junior members of the dav auxiliary consist of boys and girls 17 years of age or under . they are eligible for membership through a family member who served in the u.s. military and was honorably discharged . the junior members of the