AMVETS — American Veterans
AMVETS is the door with the widest threshold: membership is open to anyone who honorably served or is currently serving in the U.S. Armed Forces, and AMVETS states plainly that you do not need to be a member to receive free help from its service officers with a VA claim.
- Founded: 1944; chartered by an act of Congress
- Status: Congressionally chartered veterans service organization
- Headquarters: Washington, Pennsylvania
- Size: “more than 250,000 members nationwide” (AMVETS’ own figure)
- Website: amvets.org
Who it serves
Membership is open to anyone who honorably served or is currently serving in the U.S. Armed Forces, including the National Guard and Reserves. There is no combat-service requirement and no era requirement — if you served honorably, you qualify.
Family has its own doors inside the AMVETS Family. The AMVETS Ladies Auxiliary is open to the mothers, wives, widows, grandmothers, sisters, daughters, and granddaughters of AMVETS members, and of female veterans who are serving or have honorably served. Sons of AMVETS is open to male descendants, fathers, husbands, widowers, and brothers of AMVETS members, 18 and older. There are also AMVETS Riders and Junior AMVETS for members under 18.
What it does
- VA claims help — National Service Officers help veterans build and file claims (AMVETS’ “Three Cs”: consult, collect, contact). The help is free and — in AMVETS’ own words — “You do not need to be a member of AMVETS to receive free assistance from AMVETS’ service officers.”
- Scholarships — for veterans, active duty, Guard, and Reserve members, and expressly for their spouses, children, and grandchildren, including skilled-trades scholarships.
- Employment — a Career Center with job-search and employer-connection help.
- Homeless veterans — the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (in Salt Lake City and Phoenix) pairs job training and placement with housing assistance.
- Family housing — the AMVETS Charities Family Services Center in Washington, PA, provides transitional housing where veteran families stay together, with case managers and transportation to medical appointments.
- Advocacy — legislative work in Washington, and Rolling to Remember, the annual demonstration ride honoring POW/MIA and raising awareness of veteran suicide.
How a family uses it
- Start at amvets.org — the claims page is amvets.org/free-help-filing-va-claims.
- You do not have to join first. The claims help is free either way.
- If you are the wife, mother, daughter, or son of the veteran and want a membership of your own, the Ladies Auxiliary and Sons of AMVETS doors above are yours — they do not depend on him joining first for you to ask.
Facts on this page are drawn from AMVETS' own published materials (amvets.org and AMVETS family organizations), checked October 2026. Membership and program rules change; the organization's own site governs. Corrections: care@bowmanwebservices.com.