A Memorial Day Message From Connecticut's VFW Commander

ROCKY HILL, CT — State VFW commander John Schmidt has issued the following Memorial Day message:

On May 29, Memorial Day, we honor those veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice
by giving their lives for our great country. Memorial Day honors their service and sacrifice.
Tens of thousands of Veterans are buried in cemeteries and memorial parks across our state.

As Memorial Day events come upon us, it’s a good time to remind the good and patriotic
citizens of Connecticut to be aware of phony organizations who “solicit” on behalf of Veterans.
Some shoppers can see that the solicitor’s military uniform seemed to be a mismatch of different
uniforms and of different branches of the service; some wearing a hodge-podge of outdated
uniforms and relying on the goodness the Connecticut residents to donate money to them. Many
of these solicitors are not Veterans, and are not volunteers but are a paid a percentage of what
they collect from the local communities.

As an example, a few years ago an organization known as the Veterans Support
Organization (VSO) was soliciting contributions from customers in the northeast, to include
Connecticut. VSO is not related to the Veterans Administration or to the Veterans of Foreign
Wars. VSO was profiled in a “Hall of Shame” report by Fox Five New York TV reporter Arnold
Diaz.

In that profile Diaz exposed VSO for hiring “solicitors” to pose in pseudo-military
uniforms who are then paid a commission and are allowed to keep 30 percent of what they raise from
unsuspecting donors. Diaz also reported on the criminal history of some of its officers, one of
whom had a lengthy history as a con man and had convictions for forgery, credit card fraud and
scheme to defraud. At best, 15 percent of what VSO raises may go to legitimate veterans’ causes; 85 percent
of the funds raised go for overhead such as officers’ salaries and commissions for the paid
solicitors. The State of Tennessee has fined VSO for its fundraising practices, and the Attorney
General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the State of Rhode Island banned them
from soliciting there.

As Memorial Day approaches we expect more bogus organizations and individuals to
approach unsuspecting Town residents who assume that they are donating to a legitimate
charity. The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), American Legion and other legitimate Veterans
organizations do solicit funds in Connecticut for Veterans causes but those funds all stay in
Connecticut and are used for legitimate purposes. They will be wearing hats that identify them
as members of their respective organizations. They are not paid for their service.

This Memorial Day let’s honor those who made sacrifices for your freedom by
contributing to legitimate charities that help our Veterans, especially the many thousands of
Veterans that live in Connecticut. Let’s celebrate the lives and legacies of those Veterans we
have lost, lost but never forgotten and always revered.

John Schmidt, Commander
Department of Connecticut
Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States

Patch File Photo