DAV — Disabled American Veterans
DAV is the organization a family should know about before it ever files a VA claim alone: its National Service Officers are accredited claims experts, and DAV states plainly that its help is free to all veterans and does not require membership.
- Founded: 1920, Cincinnati, Ohio (as Disabled American Veterans of the World War, by Robert S. Marx)
- Status: Congressionally chartered veterans service organization (chartered 1932); nonprofit
- Headquarters: Erlanger, Kentucky
- Size: “more than 1 million members” (DAV’s own figure)
- Website: dav.org
Who it serves
Membership is open to any service member who was not dishonorably discharged and who sustained an injury or illness during service — whether or not the VA has service-connected it — or who aggravated a previous injury in service, so long as they served during a period of armed conflict (direct combat is not required).
Services are broader than membership. DAV states that its services — including professional help with VA claims, transition and employment assistance — are provided to ALL veterans at no cost and do not require joining.
What it does
- VA claims help — National Service Officers (NSOs) help veterans and their families file claims; DAV says it helps file hundreds of thousands of claims.
- Transportation — a volunteer network giving free rides to VA medical appointments (DAV cites more than 230,000 rides at no cost).
- Transition assistance — advocates located on over 100 military installations.
- Employment & entrepreneurship — career fairs and employer connections.
- Disaster relief — emergency grants to ill and injured veterans in natural-disaster areas.
- Advocacy — the DAV Commander’s Action Network (DAV CAN) and member-adopted legislative goals, which include comprehensive support services for caregivers of severely wounded, ill, and injured veterans from all eras.
How a family uses it
- Find the nearest National Service Office from dav.org/get-help-now — or start at 1-877-426-2838 (1-877-I-AM-A-VET).
- You do not have to join first. The claims help is free either way.
- Family members who want a membership of their own join through the DAV Auxiliary (a page in this directory’s next batch).
Facts on this page are drawn from DAV's own published materials (dav.org), checked October 2026. Membership and program rules change; the organization's own site governs. Corrections: care@bowmanwebservices.com.