The History of the VFW

The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States traces its roots back to 1899. That year, Veterans of the Spanish-American War (1898) and the Philippine Insurrection (1899-1902) founded local organizations to secure rights and benefits for their service. In Columbus, Ohio, they founded the American Veterans of Foreign Service. In Denver Colorado, they organized the Colorado Society, Army of the Philippines.

In 1901, Philippine Veterans in Altoona and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, started the Philippine War Veterans. The following year, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, became the home of the American Veterans of the Philippine and China Wars. In 1905, these three groups merged with the American Veterans of Foreign Service.

In 1913, the American Veterans of Foreign Service was amalgamated with the Colorado Society, Army of the Philippines and became the Army of the Philippine-Cuba and Puerto Rico, then changed their name to the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States.
The VFW was chartered by Congress in 1936.