WHEREAS, Disabled American Veterans (DAV) was founded by World War I veterans on September 25, 1920, and was chartered by an Act of Congress on June 17, 1932; and

WHEREAS, DAV is one of the largest wartime veterans service organizations in the United States made up exclusively of service members disabled in our nation’s defense with over one million veterans in its membership; and 

WHEREAS, DAV is dedicated to a single purpose – empowering veterans to lead high-quality lives with respect and dignity; and

WHEREAS, DAV ensures veterans and their families have access to the full range of benefits available to them, fights for the interests of America’s injured heroes, and educates the public about the needs of veterans transitioning back to civilian life; and

WHEREAS, DAV provides outreach concerning its programs and services to the American people generally, and to disabled veterans and their families specifically; and

WHEREAS, DAV represents the interests of disabled veterans, their families, their widowed spouses, and their surviving children before the federal government, as well as state and local governments; and

WHEREAS, DAV has fought tirelessly for equal access to critical VA caregiver benefits and services for severely disabled veterans of all generations, resulting in legislation to expand eligibility to those injured prior to September 11, 2001, as part of the VA Mission Act; and

WHEREAS, DAV Department of Virginia and the 38 chapters across our Commonwealth demonstrate their commitment to ill and injured veterans of all generations and conflicts; and

WHEREAS, DAV Department of Virginia is a significant partner to the Virginia Joint Leadership Council of Veterans Service Organizations, advising the Governor, Secretary of Veterans & Defense Affairs, Virginia Department of Veterans Service, and the Virginia General Assembly on matters of concern to the veterans community and providing information to and from veterans service organizations on policy and legislation, pending and enacted, as well as information on existing services; and

WHEREAS, the Commonwealth of Virginia is proud to honor the members of the Disabled American Veterans;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Glenn Youngkin, do hereby recognize September 25, 2023, as DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS DAY in our COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, and I call this observance to the attention of our citizens.