Reasons to Join the VFW:

1. Availability of the expert help of State and National V.F.W. Service Officers, as well as the Service Officer in your own Post, if you should need hospital care, educational, pension or other benefits for which you may wish to file a claim.
2. V.F.W. help in protecting existing veteran benefits that you now receive, or that you may be entitled to in the future, through the effort of our V.F.W. National Legislative Service in Washington, D.C. and your own V.F.W. State Legislative Committee.
3. An opportunity to take an active part in your V.F.W. Post's patriotic, community service, and youth activity programs.
4. An opportunity to become an officer of your Post, thereby developing your talents as a competent public speaker and respected civic leader in your community.
5. Satisfaction in knowing that you are supporting an organization that  fights for maximum defense and security of our country.
6. Free admission of your children to the V.F.W. National Home in Eaton Rapids, Michigan, in the event of your death, with complete assurance that they will have every opportunity to grow up as proud, healthy and educated citizens.
7. Receiving the V.F.W. Magazine, the State V.F.W. newspaper, and the Post newsletter bimonthly, which keeps you informed on all matters pertaining to your status as a veteran and subjects close to your heart as a patriotic American.
8. Multiple Insurance plans sponsored by the VFW including our $1,000 Personal Accident Protection offered to all VFW members in good standing.
9. VFW Approved Prescription Drug and Vitamin (VFW BeneVets Card) Program.
10. Newest Member Benefits - Discounted Merchandise and Buying Program and VFW Travel Services (Non-Insurance VFW Benefits).
11. Social functions hosted by the Post or District.  Activities for yourself as well as members of your family at a minimal cost.
12. The feeling of true comradeship that exists only among veterans who served overseas in time of war.
13. The opportunity for your wife, daughter, granddaughter, mother or sister to join the Ladies Auxiliary, which works hand-in-hand with Post members in all V.F.W. functions and programs.

VFW membership is available to all U.S. Citizens, honorably discharged from the U.S. armed forces and who have earned an overseas campaign medal as indicated from the following chart:

Campaign Medal	Military Service	Period During Which Issued
Expeditionary	Navy  Marine Corps	12 Feb 1874 - indeterminate
Spanish Campaign	Army	11 May 1898 -  16 Aug 1898
	Navy	20 Apr 1898 - 10 Dec 1898
Army of Cuban Occupation	Army	18 Jul 1898 - 20 May 1902
Army of Puerto Rican Occupation	Army	14 Aug 1898 - 10 Dec 1898
Philippine Campaign	Army	04 Feb 1899 - 31 Dec 1913
	Navy	04 Feb 1899 - 15 Sep 1906
China Campaign	Army	20 Jun 1900 - 27 May 1901
China Relief Expedition	Navy	05 Apr 1900 - 27 May 1901
Army of Cuban Pacification	Army	06 Oct 1906 - 01 Apr 1909
Cuban Pacification	Navy	12 Sep 1906 - 01 Apr 1909
Mexican Service	Army	12 Apr 1911 - 16 June 1919
	Navy	12 Apr 1914 - 07 Feb 1917
First Nicaraguan Campaign	Navy	29 Jul 1912 - 14 Nov 1912
Haitian Campaign	Navy	09 Jul 1915 - 06 Dec 1915.  01 Apr 1919 - 15 Jun 1920.
Dominican Campaign	Navy	04 May 1916 - 05 Dec 1916
World War I Victory  (with Battle or Service Clasp including Siberia and European Russia)	Army	06 Apr 1917 - 01 Apr 1920
	Navy	06 Apr 1917 - 30 Mar 1920
Army of Occupation of Germany	Army	12 Nov 1918 - 11 Jul 1923
Second Nicaraguan Campaign	Navy	27 Aug 1926 - 02 Jan 1933
Yangtze Service	Navy	03 Sep 1926 - 21 Oct 1927.  01 Mar 1930 - 31 Dec 1932..
China Service	Navy	07 Jul 1937 - 07 Sep 1939. 02 Sep 1945 - 01 Apr 1957.
American Defense Service  (with Foreign Service Clasp)	Army-Navy	08 Sep 1939 - 07 Dec 1941
American Campaign (30 consecutive days or 60 days non-consecutive duty outside continental limits of the United States)	Army-Navy	07 Dec 1941 - 02 Mar 1946
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign	Army-Navy	07 Dec 1941 - 02 Mar 1946
European-African Middle Eastern Campaign	Army-Navy	07 Dec 1941 - 08 Nov 1945
Army of Occupation  30 consecutive days	Italy	09 May 1945 - 15 Sep 1947
	Germany (except West Berlin)	09 May 1945 - 05 May 1955
	Germany (West Berlin)	09 May 1945 - 02 Oct. 1990
	Austria	09 May 1945 - 27 Jul 1955
	Korea	03 Sep 1945 - 29 Jun 1949
	Japan	03 Sep 1945 - 27 Apr 1952
Navy Occupation Service Medal	Italy	08 May 1945 - 15 Dec 1947
	Trieste	08 May 1945 - 26 Oct 1954
	Germany (except West Berlin)	08 May 1945 - 05 May 1955
	Austria	08 May 1945 - 25 Oct 1955
	Asiatic Pacific	02 Sep 1945 - 27 Apr 1952
Korean Service Medal	Army, Navy, Air Force	27 Jun 1950 - 27 Jul 1954
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal  30 consec. or 60 non-consec. days of duty	Berlin	14 Aug 1961 - 01 Jun 1963
	Lebanon	01 Jul 1958 - 01 Nov 1958
	Quemoy & Matsu Island	23 Aug 1958 - 01 June 1963
	Taiwan Straits	23 Aug 1958 - 01 Jan. 1959
	Congo	14 Jul 1960 - 01 Sep 1962.  23-27 Nov 1964.
	Laos	19 Apr 1961 - 07 Oct 1962
	Vietnam	01 Jul 1958 - 03 Jul 1965
	Cuba	24 Oct 1962 - 01 Jun 1963
	Dominican Republic	28 Apr 1965 - 21 Sep 1966
	Korea	01 Oct 1966 - 30 Jun 1974
	Cambodia	29 Mar 1973 - 15 Aug 1973
	Thailand (in direct support of Cambodia Operation)	29 Mar 1973 - 15 Aug 1973
	Operation Eagle Pull-Evacuation of Cambodia	11-13 Apr 1975
	Operation Frequent Wind-Evacuation of Vietnam	29-30 Apr 1975
	Mayaguez Operation	15 May 1975
	Operation Urgent Fury-Grenada	23 Oct 1983 - 21 Nov 1983
	Lebanon	01 Jun 1983 - 01 Dec 1987
	Libyan Operation- El Dorado Canyon	12-17 Apr 1986
	Persian Gulf-Operation Earnest Will	24 July 1987 - 02 Aug. 1990
	Panama-Operation Just Cause	20 Dec 1989 - 31 Jan 1990
	Somalia-United Shield-Operation Restore Hope	05 Dec 1992 - 31 Mar 1995
	Haiti-Operation Uphold Democracy	16 Sep 1994 - 31 Mar 1995
	Operation Southern Watch  (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq Arabian Gulf, Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Oman, Gulf of Oman W of 62" E Long,  Yeman, Egypt, Jordan	01 Dec 1995 - Indeterminate
	El Salvador	01 Jan 1981 - 01 Feb 1992
	Bosnia-Operation Joint Endeavor (Bosnia, Croatia, the Adriatic Sea & airspace)	20 Nov 1995 - 20 Dec 1996
	Operation Joint Guard (Bosnia, Croatia, Adriatic Sea & airspace)	20 Dec 1996 - 20 Jun 1998
	Operation Vigilant Sentinel (Persian Gulf, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait)	01 Dec 1995 - 01 Sep 1997
	Operation Northern Watch (Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Persian Gulf W of 56" E Long., and Incirlik AB, Turkey (only pers. TDY to ONW)	01 Jan 1997 - Indeterminate
	Operation Maritime Intercept operations (Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman W of 62" E Long, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Oman, Yemen, Egypt, Jordan)	01 Dec 1995 - Indeterminate
	Operation Joint Forge - (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Adriatic Sea & airspace)	21 Jun. 1998 - 31 Dec 2000
	Operation Desert Thunder (Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Persian Gulf, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Oman, Yemen, Egypt, Jordan, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea support	11 Nov 1998 - 22 Dec 1998
	Operation Desert Fox (Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Persian Gulf, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, Gulf of Oman, USF Red Sea support	16 Dec 1998 - 22 Dec 1998
Navy & Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal	Thailand Military Operation	16 May 1962 - 10 Aug 1962
	Cuban Military Operation	03 Jan 1961 - 23 Oct 1962
	Iranian, Yemen & Indian Ocean Operation	08 Dec 1978 - 06 Jun 1979.  21 Nov 1979 - 20 Oct 1981.
	Lebanon	20 Aug 1982 - 31 May 1983
	Libyan Expedition	20 Jan 1986 - 27 Jun 1986
	Persian Gulf	01 Feb 1987 - 23 Jul 1987
	Panama - (pre and post invasion)	01 Apr 1988 - 19 Dec 1989. 01 Feb 1990 - 13 Jun 1990.
	Liberia (Operation Sharp Edge)	05 Aug 1990 - 21 Feb 1991
	Rwanda (Operation Distant Runner) (11th Marine Expeditionary Unit USS Peleliu)	07-18 Apr 1994
Vietnam Service Medal		04 Jul 1965 - 28 Mar 1973
Southwest Asia Service Medal	(Operation Desert Shield/Operation Desert Storm) Combat areas of operation only	02 Aug 1990 - 30 Nov 1995
	Personnel assigned to support units serving in Israel, Egypt, Turkey,  Syria, Jordan	17 Jan. 1991 - 11 Apr 1991. 30 Nov 1995.
Combat Action Ribbon		01 Mar 1961 - Indeterminate
Combat Infantry Badge &  Combat Medical Badge		06 Dec 1941 - Indeterminate
Korean Service (no campaign medal issued)	Service on the Korean Peninsula, or in its territorial waters for thirty (30), consecutive or sixty (60) nonconsecutive days.	30 Jun 1949 - 26 Jun 1950.  28 Jul 1954- 20 Sep 1966. 01 Jul 1974 - Open
Kosovo Campaign Medal	Allied Force	24 Mar 1999 - 10 Jun 1999
	Joint Guardian	11 Jun 1999 -  indeterminate
	Allied Harbour	04 Apr 1999 - 01 Sep 1999
	Sustain Hope  Shining Hope	04 Apr 1999 - 10 Jul 1999
	Noble Anvil	24 Mar 1999 - 20 Jul 1999
	Kosovo Task Force Hawk	05 Apr 1999 - 24 Jun 1999
	Kosovo Task Force Saber	31 Mar 1999 - 08 Jul 1999
	Kosovo Task Force Falcon	11 Jun 1999 - indeterminate
	Kosovo Task Force Hunter	01 Apr 1999 - 01 Nov 1999
	Kosovo Air Campaign  Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, Bosnia, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, Italy, Slovenia, Adriatic & Ionian Seas	24 Mar 1999 - 10 Jun 1999
	Kosovo Defense Campaign  Serbia, Montenegro, Albania,  Macedonia, Adriatic Seas	11 Jun 1999 - indeterminate

The membership program is the lifeblood of the VFW. Without members, there would be no people to carry out the other programs and no money with which to fund them. And without enough members to give the VFW its political clout, it would have little chance of successfully grappling with veterans' problems and needs.

To guide the membership program, each national Commander-in-Chief sets his personal recruitment quota for the VFW as a whole. In arriving at this quota, the Commander-in-Chief takes into consideration the number of members who will be lost each year due to death or to failures to renew membership ("back-door losses"). Currently, this number averages about 7 percent of the total membership each year - about 140,000 members in 1989. In order to show any gain in membership, the quota must therefore be set at greater than 7 percent of the present membership.

Once a national recruitment goal has been decided upon, each department, district, county council, and post is given an individual quota. These quotas are based on the units' total membership the previous year. Smaller units - posts of one hundred members, for example - may be asked to increase their membership to 125 percent, while a larger post of one thousand members may only be assigned a 101 percent objective. If units meet or exceed their quotas, they receive recognition from their department and/or the national organization. Units that win national recognition are given All American status, and those that win department recognition are given All State status. Along with this recognition, units and their commanders may win gifts or nationally sponsored trips.

The actual method of recruiting varies from unit to unit and commander to commander. What motivates one recruiter or team of recruiters may not encourage others. Each unit commander designs his own program or agrees to one designed by his membership chairman. Usually, individual recruiters are given small awards as tokens of the commander's thanks and to reward them for their success. For example, a recruiter who signed up three new or reinstated members might receive the Commander's Pin. For ten members, he might earn a special recruiting pin, and for twenty-five, a jacket personalized with his name, the VFW Emblem, and name of his post. For fifty members, the recruiter receives a national designation as "National Aide de Camp, Recruiting Class," a VFW Cap bearing that designation, and has his or her name listed in the National General Orders published in the VFW Magazine.

The success of the VFW's membership program is reflected in the organization's steady growth over the years. Since 1899, membership has grown from the original 13 members to over 2 million.  The most recent tally, in 1990, showed 10,513 posts as of April and approximately 2,100,000 members by National Convention time in August. (Of this total, 52 percent had received campaign ribbons in World War II, 21 percent in the Korean War, 24 percent in the Vietnam War, and 3 percent from occupation duty and expeditionary service in twenty smaller campaigns.) In reaching this total, each of the VFW's fifty-four departments had surpassed its previous year's membership.  This marked the thirty-fifth consecutive year in which the VFW has increased in size. No other major organization can make that claim.