DAV Mission Statement We are dedicated to a single purpose: empowering veterans to high - quality lives with respect and dignity. We accomplish this by making sure veterans and their families can access the full range of benefits available to them; fighting for the interests of America's injured heroes on Capitol Hill; and educating the public about the great sacrifices and the needs of veterans transitioning back to civilian life. This mission is carried forward by providing free, professional assistance to veterans and their families in obtaining benefits and services earned through military service and provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and other agencies of government; providing outreach concerning its program services to the American people generally, and to disabled veterans and their families specifically, representing the interests of disabled veterans, their families, their widowed spouses and their orphans before Congress, the White House, and the Judicial Branch, as well as state and local governments; extending the DAV's mission of hope into communities where these veterans and their families live through a network of state level departments and local chapters; and providing a structure through which disabled veterans can express their compassion for their fellow veterans through a variety of volunteer programs.