DAV national headquarters seizes $39,000 donation from Sacramento chapter

Editor’s note: This article first appeared on The War Horse, an award-winning nonprofit newsroom covering the human impact of military service, in partnership with The Sacramento Bee. It is republished here with permission. Subscribe to The War Horse’s newsletter and The Sacramento Bee.

A Windfall for a Struggling Post

The Disabled American Veterans (DAV) post in Sacramento, California, was in dire need of repairs. The small white building with blue trim and an American flag out front was built decades ago. Its heating and cooling system was ancient. The parking lot was riddled with potholes.

So when Chapter Treasurer Eldra Jackson Jr. learned they would receive a check for more than $39,000 from the estate of a California woman who had recently died, he was excited about tackling overdue repairs.

"It was a windfall," said Jackson, who, like other officers at the Sacramento post, served as an unpaid volunteer.

The National Organization Steps In

But last fall, after Jackson reported the donation on the chapter's annual financial report, he received a letter back from DAV national headquarters' general counsel. The money, the letter stated, did not belong to local veterans in Sacramento. It belonged to the national organization, based thousands of miles away in Kentucky and backed by hundreds of millions of dollars in assets.

If the disabled veterans in Sacramento did not transfer the money to DAV's national organization, the letter warned, their chapter would be at risk.

"We're doing the best we can to service veterans in our community," said Chapter Commander Gilbert Tafoya, an Air Force veteran who was exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. "When all that is taken away, there's something wrong."

A Broader Pattern of Tension

It may seem odd to see such a bitter dispute inside an organization built to serve disabled veterans. But the frustration that local vets in Sacramento feel toward their national organization is not unique.

In interviews with DAV members from a dozen chapters in eight states, veterans told The War Horse that the national organization offered little financial support for their work with local veterans. However, they said, they felt DAV was quick to suspend or shut down small volunteer chapters over paperwork errors or requests for help with financial issues.

Local disabled veterans say that makes it harder to support veterans in their communities, whether by:

• Helping them navigate the notoriously complex Department of Veterans Affairs disability claims process
• Driving them to VA hospital appointments
• Giving them a place to gather for Thanksgiving dinner with others who have served

Gilbert Tafoya, former commander of DAV Chapter 6 in Sacramento, sued the national organization over its attempt to take a donation Tafoya believes was meant for his chapter. (Paul Kitagaki Jr./The Sacramento Bee)

A Larger Question for Legacy Veterans Organizations

At the heart of this tension is a larger question facing America's legacy veterans organizations: How do they serve veterans when the local post model that sustained them for generations is fading?

As the ranks of Korean and Vietnam War veterans thin, so do the member rolls of organizations such as DAV, the American Legion, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Younger veterans are less likely to join local posts, and groups like DAV are increasingly struggling to adapt to this changing landscape.