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| Members check in at the 74th National Convention |
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CONVENTIONS
UNITED STATES NAVY
VETERANS ASSOCIATION
82ND ANNIVERSARY NATIONAL CONVENTION
- A NOTE FROM MEMBERSHIP
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR BRANDI DARCY
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The Association's 82nd Anniversary National Convention will be held in 2009.
Details will be posted at this spot subsequently.
Come join the fun. There will be plenty of food, drink and good times for all, as usual.
If you need specific travel instructions or tips on lodgings, email us with your membership identification number.
National Conventions of the Association are held once every four calendar years.
MEMBERSHIP AND CONTRIBUTIONS
Voting Membership in the Association is open to U.S. citizens and legal residents supporting
the purposes and goals of the Association as contained in its Mission Statement. Voting Members must also meet other
strict requirements as established by Acts of Congress and, for a list of these, you may email us your request at USN@NavyVets.org.
National Association members automatically become State Chapter members
for the state in which they are resident, providing such state has an official State Chapter. For a list of those, see the State Chapter Page.
National Association members may opt out of
a particular State Chapter membership at any time.
The Association expects that every voting member will put in a
substantial amount of quality time each year as a volunteer on Association outreach and/or administrative activities. Voting
members on active duty, aged or suffering from infirmity are exempt from this requirement.
Members may be dismissed summarily from membership for failure to
support the purposes or lawful activities of the Association.
Individuals and Entities may also apply for associate ("honorary"),
non-voting membership, which is an honorific bestowed by the Association for a contribution to one or more purposes of the
Association. Associate members are asked to express their sympathy for the Mission Statement of the Association.
National and local officers, all of whom serve without remuneration,
come from the voting membership, and election to the position of National Association Director requires that the
nomination for the position of National Association Director be seconded by 250 voting members of the National
Association by signed petition to be received, postage prepaid mail, by October 31 of the calendar year immediately preceding
the calendar year during which the next National Convention shall be held, addressed to the United States Navy Veterans
Association, Elections Section,7028 West Waters #325, Tampa, Florida 33634. Elections for the offices of National Association
Director are held at the National Conventions of the Association. Further information about the form of a nominating
petition for National Association Director and procedures for the election of National Association and State Chapter
Directors can be obtained by voting members by calling the Membership Section of the National Association at (202) 736-1725
or by emailing the Association at Membership@NavyVets.org.
Only natural persons may serve as officers.
Annual membership
dues for new members are, currently for 2007-2008, $250.00 for a voting member (voting membership dues may be reduced or waived
by the Association upon a written showing by the applicant evidencing financial hardship) and $50.00 for an associate non-voting
supportive member (which also can be waived, in whole or in part, by the National Association Board of Directors or its
Executive Committee).
Initial annual dues, which must be remitted along with the initial
Membership Application, cover the remainder of the calendar year in which the initial Application is submitted, as well as
the subsequent calendar year. The fiscal year of the Association and all its State Chapters is the calendar year. After the
initial full year of membership, members are sent renewal notices approximately three months before the commencement of the
next calendar year. Renewal annual dues are due and payable as of January 1.
Checks or money orders for initial dues are not deposited or processed
until the Application for Membership is approved. Checks or money orders from non-qualifying membership applicants are
returned to the applicant unprocessed.
Community Foundation Fund Members and Navy Eagle Members (see below) may, depending on their qualifications,
be classified as either voting or non-voting supportive members.
When e-mailing the Association a request for
a Membership Application at USN@NavyVets.org , please be sure to include your mailing address or fax number as the Association does not currently have the capability
to e-mail you an Application. You can, however, also either download or print the Membership Application right off the
Membership Application Page.
As a private, non-profit,
tax-exempt war veterans' organization, the Association receives all its
funds from its dues, contributions and any advertising it may have in its publications. It receives no funding from, nor is
it officially affiliated with, any agency of any government.
Unsolicited contributions in support of the Mission of
the Association are always welcomed and may be mailed to us at:
US Navy Veterans Association
Attn: Internet
1783 Forest Dr #300
Annapolis MD 21401
It is easy...very easy... to dedicate your contribution to a particular
service branch or to a specific purpose in our Mission Statement - Just make a notation on the memo line of your tax
deductible check and we will see to it that your contribution is applied to the Mission Statement purpose or
service branch you designated.
From time to time we do solicitation drives, both volunteer and non-volunteer, on
a State-by-State basis, for contributions. If you were contacted, and need a personal verification from us that it was
us who contacted you, please leave us a VOICEMAIL at our National Headquarters telephone number found at the top of our
Homepage - (202) 736-1725. We apologize that we do not have a dedicated line with a live operator 40 hours per week for
such verifications, and are deeply hurt personally that we are not able to talk to you immediately live, but that
would cost the Association a minimum of $70,000 per year to accomplish and, as an all-volunteer organization, that
is an administrative cost we are not willing to currently accept. If you leave us a voicemail, one of our volunteers will
verify your contact ASAP.
We do not return anonymous calls left on our voicemails, e.g. "This
is Mr. Jones. Somebody please call me back." A detailed subject line message is required so we know to whom to refer your
call within the Association. Likewise, we do not open anonymous emails for fear of virus infection. A legitimate subject line
spelled out correctly in the English language is required.
Every donor contacted by one of our fundraising drives receives in the
mail, before any donation is made, a full written packet. This packet contains information about the Association and the campaign
and, also, a pledge slip with our official logo on it and a legal disclosure statement. The statement is very important and,
along with the other written material sent, should be read by every donor before actually donating. To view a sample Association fundraising pledge slip and disclosure, click here.
Neither the National Association
nor any of its State Chapters does fundraising campaigns in conjunction with any non-profit organization (NPO) outside
the Association family. In the latter case the words "United States Navy Veterans Association" will appear in the title of
the organization. Neither the National Association nor any of its subordinate organizations has any cross-controlling relationship
of any kind with any other NPO, regardless of whether the other NPO may utilize the same DPC or not. The fact that an established
non-volunteer Call Center retained by the Association elects to contract with more than one NPO for fundraising purposes
is both a right given such a Call Center under the Contracts Clause of the United States Constitution, and also
entirely proper in the eyes of the Association. Such a practice also has the additional benefit of permitting an NPO to research
and investigate the bona fides of such a Call Center through previous clients, something urged on all NPOs in advance by numerous
government regulatory bodies.
There is no request, plea, entreaty, demand,or invitation, or an attempt
to make a request, plea, entreaty, demand or invitation, explicitly or by implication, made on this website for any contribution
to the Association or to any other group. The site, instead, and in part, presents some details of our Veterans' Outreach Programs and other not-for-profit programs, including our educational programs, information about our fundraising activities, provides
contact information, and leaves the act of giving entirely, and without solicitation or invitation, up to the individual reader.
There are at least 200 Al Quaida cells in the United States as of 2007
and, as part of all our solicitation campaigns in specific States, we urge the public to remember the service of all our Armed
Forces abroad, to remember America, and to be vigilant for America. "Being vigiilant" means, in case there is any doubt, reporting
activities to law enforcement in all cases where one reasonably believes there is a terror threat to America posed by that
activity.
We ask the same question of the American public who are contacted on our
drives, and the public in general, as the American Country song, a question which is also an exhortation to action:
Have you forgotten when those towers fell,
when our country was under fire, and where our heroes
fell?
How their families live through hell every day?
Don't tell anybody not to worry about bin Laden.
Have you forgotten?
Contributions can be and are used only in accordance with the Mission Statement of the Association and may
be earmarked, as we said above, by the donor for any purpose mentioned in the Association's Mission Statement on our Mission Statement Page. However, contributions received from non-volunteer solicitation drives ('paid solicitor'campaigns) we
do (while they may focus on a particular purposive activity or activities, and have at least a plurality of
the net charitable receipts from such a drive expended on that stated particular purposive activity
or activities), and unearmarked contributions raised by a volunteer drive not specifying a particular Association charitable
activity, go to support, to some degree, ALL the charitable purposes of the Association, including veteran
advocacy, public education and information dissemination carried out as part of the drive itself. Charitable receipts
from such drives are divided among those purposes, and the Association's purposive activities, discretionarily by the
respective Executive Boards of the National Association and its State Chapters. Any oral representation to the contrary
is invalid and will not be recognized by, nor is it binding upon, the Association.
It is also reasonable, we should point out, that any donor should understand, in the words of U.S. Supreme Court
Justice Antonin Scalia in Illinois ex rel. Madigan v. Telemarketing Associates, 53 U.S. 600, 155 L.Ed.2d
793, 123 S.Ct. 1829 (2003), that when we say "contributions are used...," we refer of course to net contributions after deduction
for legitimate non-programmatic expenses. These expenses do vary, sometime widely, especially from one solicitation drive
to another, but as applied to the Association's or a State Chapter's annual receipts for the year as a whole, are always
a matter of public record with the appropriate state agency of every state in which the Association or a State Chapter carries
out public fundraising. They are also available, transparently on this Site, by going to the State Chapters Page, and clicking on the report you wish to see. You may also access our Annual Report by also going onto the Homepage and clicking on "Annual Report."
Neither the Association nor any of its State Chapters does public fundraising campaigns to specifically
benefit a geographical locality, e.g., a county or city, and any statement to the contrary made by any fundraiser for an Association
campaign should be reported to the Association immediately for corrective action. Funds raised, however, by a State Chapter campaign, or in a particular state, may
be 'localized' to benefit veterans and/or active duty U.S. Armed Forces members from that state and, in fact, it has been
the long-standing policy of the National Association and all its State Chapters that net monies raised in a particular
state, or received from residents of a particular state are spent on or for the benefit of one or more Mission Statement beneficiary
classes who are residents of that state, or on Mission Statement activities in that state.
While we're on the subject of contributions, we should also point out that, although the Association is registered
and in good standing with the I.R.S. and every state requiring registration in which we publicly fundraise, as well
as with Guidestar, as well as being listed with the Better Business Bureau,
as well as being the recipient of numerous awards and endorsements listed throughout this Site for our philanthropic
activities and programs, the opinion of the Association is that claimed omniscience, as to what is or is not a "legitimate"
charity, as with all claims of omniscience, is a province best left to God, and the individual contributor.
It is an arrogance of power for any entity, or person, governmental or non-governmental, to claim otherwise.
And that is a claim, if made, which certainly should not vest with any self-righteous or hypocritical self-appointed private
"charity watchdog;" politician, or governmental agency controlled by one.
The Association and all of its State Chapters are proud of the fact that we are currently running, nationally,
at more than 70% of all our net annual expenses going toward charitable program services, meaning, true underlying charitable programs like our care kits program for our
young men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan and our assistance programs for needy homeless or sick veterans in medical facilities
or on the streets of America. Websites run by particular State Attorneys General which imply the contrary, by cherry-picking
particular fundraising campaigns, and only quoting figures from those campaigns as opposed to the total financial picture
for the Association as a whole, are, in our opinion, misrepresentational per se. If you are reading their figures,
the Association advises you to check with us for a full and accurate description of the numbers presented.
That's our opinion. And we're sticking to it.
All contributions to the Association are fully tax-deductible.
We do not give or accept quid-pro-quo contibutions. All
our activities are specifically approved by the IRS as tax-exempt activities for which tax-deductible contributions are also
approved.
One frequently asked question we receive asks for the difference
between a contribution and a voting membership. Simply put , a contribution is the promise, pledge or grant of money,
property, or any other thing of value for a non-profit purpose of the Association. Voting Membership, on the other hand, means
the relationship of the person to the Association that entitles the person to the privileges, professional standing, honor,
and other direct benefits and services the Association may confer as a result of that relationship including, in addition
to the right to elect officers, to hold office in the Association, and the right to attend the National Association National
Convention and the Annual Meeting of the pertinent State Chapter; currently, the membership certificate; and membership card
for those members requesting one (requires picture and signature); the right to e-vote on matters of membership concern such
as endorsements of policy or legislative action proposals to government; the State Chapter "NavyVet" Newsletter (where
available); the "NavyVets Yellow Pages (where available); invitations to members only events; a Yahoo email account,
for voting members desiring one; invitations, as appropriate, to join delegations visiting government officials in Washington,
D.C. or in your State capital; information support for Ship Associations through the NavyVet Newsletter; outplacement consultancies;
VA benefits' advice; welfare advice and assistance; recruitment advice; and advertisement of Association related events via
the NavyVet Newsletter.
Neither Voting nor Associate Membership is ever conferred solely
for making a monetary contribution to the Association.
No portion of membership dues or contributions are ever used
for political purposes or activities, in the support of or opposition to anyone seeking office. The Association neither sponsors;
endorses; is connected to; affiliated with; controls; is controlled by; funds, in whole or in part; or is funded by, in whole
or in part, any political action committee, political party, candidate or political organization. There is, moreover,
no statement on this site, or, for that matter, any statement ever made by the Association, by implication or otherwise, which
supports or opposes, promotes or attacks, the candidacy of any political candidate for public office. The McCain-Feingold
Act may have an exception for this non-profit sort of "by implication" activity if made on the Internet, but even if
it did not, we'd stick to our conclusion that we don't ever do that, and welcome them to bring it on if they think we
have. Most veterans are eminently used to politicians, even in this country, who say "You said this," when in fact nobody
said any such thing.
DO NOT CALL LIST
No charitable exempt organization in the United States is subject
to the Federal Trade Commission's Telephone Solicitation Regulations relating to the National Do Not Call Registry.
However, to have your name and telephone number placed
on our internal Do Not Call List in and for any state in which the Association does a public fundraising drive
at any time, even before any first telephone call or contact is ever made, no questions asked, you may call, toll-free, 1-888-665-9359,
or reach us in Washington at 202-736-1725, or call the pertinent State Chapter at its telephone number listed on the State Chapters Page, or email us at DoNotCall@Navyvets.org, If you email us, or connect with the Voice Mail and simply say
or write: "Do Not Call," your full name (which should be spelled out slowly), and your full telephone number
including area code, it will be done. (Takes about 24-72 hours.) It's as simple as that. If you wish to quote this paragraph
when you do so, please feel free, but, at the same time, include the following thought as a courtesy to all REAL Americans:
those who denounce, in the name of pubic policy, the First Amendment right of others to free speech, especially those
fundraising for the vibrancy of any and all American non-profit causes, need to beware that that same public policy may
be turned on them someday to deny them THEIR same freedoms of speech and expression, as they were in Hitler Germany, in Stalinist
Russia, and as Al Quaida seeks to do today in Iraq and throughout the Muslim world.
Rev. Al Sharpton and Rev. Pat Robertson,Virginia Beach, Virginia,
2008
It's American to disagree, and the Association certainly believes
that our ability to disagree with each other as Americans is one of America's greatest strengths, and certainly not a weakness.
But it is also American to come together in the face of a challenge, and America is certainly challenged today.
You can also contact us to have your name put on our
internal Do Not Call List by using any of the contact information on our Contact Us Page.
Please DO NOT USE the Donation Processing Center addresses
listed on the State Chapters Page to mail in a written Do Not Contact request. The Donation Processing Centers are not set
up to process such requests.
Less than 7% of the charities in the United States are as accomodating
as the Association is with regard to the ease with which you can gain access to our Do Not Contact feature. In fact,
most do not have it at all.
THE VIRTUAL NAVY WALL
The Virtual Navy Wall, administered by the Association, is a separate Page on this Site.The Wall lists in
perpetuity Navy veterans who have died by rank, name, and years of birth and death or, if the submitter requests, just the name
of the honoree. To submit a name, simply write us at our Internet address above. A $50 contribution is suggested, most of
which covers our costs. All donors receive a Certificate of Appreciation. There is a maximum of four veteran honorees per
Certificate of Appreciation.
We also point out that the last time we checked the United States Marine Corps was still
officially part of the Navy so, yes, we do list USMC honorees on the Virtual Navy Wall. Likewise, we will also list Coast
Guard veterans from the World War I and World War II periods, when the USCG was integrally attached to the Navy,
or from any period in the future when the Coast Guard might be so attached again.
CONTRIBUTION
INFORMATION ON THE HOMEPAGE FORUM
For those contemplating membership or an unsolicited contribution, don't
forget to check out our Homepage Forum for "reality TV" updates from officers, members and non-members alike on the programs and activities of the Association.
REQUESTS FOR PERSONAL OR GROUP ASSISTANCE
Requests for personal or group assistance are always welcome to be e-mailed to the USNVA. However, the requester should
be aware that programs involving monetary assistance to individuals or groups are normally initiated by our Activities and
Programs Division at National Headquarters after a rigorous authentication process and then forwarded as a recommendation
to the appropriate State Chapter for re-review and actual approval and disbursement of funds. If your request is approved,
we will be getting back in touch with you.
USNVA provides outreach services to needy USN, USNR, Marine Corps and Marine Corps Reserve members, veterans
and their dependents as a priority, but members, veterans and dependents of all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, including
the USCG, have been, and are being assisted by these service programs. Outreach services are provided without respect to veteran
organization affiliation, and membership in USNVA is NOT required for service.
Financial and in-kind assistance to
individuals, in all cases, is based on a minimum standard of indigency, or financial need approaching indigency, and honorable
service to the Nation. Most of our financial and in-kind assistance programs in the United States are carried out in
the mission districts of America, or in VA or U.S. Armed Forces medical facilities, where those standards are readily
and visibly verifiable.
In addition to requests for Association financial and in-kind
assistance, we are also deluged with requests to find lost records and awards, and for assistance in obtaining military retirement
and VA benefits. As to the latter three, we regret to say that we do not currently have the staff to assist everybody in need,
and our first priority in those three areas lies with our members. Some of the best online assistance in finding lost records
is to be found on our Links of Interest Page and, if we are not able to get back in touch with you personally after you've left us a message about your situation, we
highly recommend those Links to you.
To find lost buddies, you can also always leave an Entry on
the Guestmap on the Links of Interest Page..
We don't brag about our charity programs for veterans on this Site because we think that's unbecoming, and because
a website is primarily a tool which should be used to communicate useful information to the public, not self-serving propaganda.
Our Forum Entries from the public on our charitable activities
at the bottom of our Homepage, our awards for our outreach programs, and our official recognition by the Department of Veterans' Affairs all speak
for themselves.
We think that those who constantly thump their chests
about the charity work they've done miss the drift of St. Paul, who said in Corinthians that charity vaunteth not
itself and is not puffed up.
For a fuller description of our charitable outreach programs , click onto the United States Navy Veterans Association Outreach Programs Page.
NAVY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FUND Navy Community Foundation Fund members are individuals or entities who have made a lifetime contribution of $25,000
to one or more of the purposes of the Association, qualify for voting or honorary membership, have paid membership dues, and
would like to be recognized by the Association for their patriotism and contribution to this sea-faring Nation. In
addition to the regular benefits of membership in the Association listed above, Navy Community Foundation Fund members also
may have, if they wish, their name, as well as information about them, listed on a separate Navy Community Foundation Fund Page on this Site, in perpetuity. NAVY EAGLE CIRCLE
Navy Eagle Circle members are individuals or entities who have made a lifetime contribution of $10,000 to one
or more of the purposes of the Association, qualify for voting or honorary membership, have paid membership dues, and would
like to be recognized by the Association for their patriotism and contribution to this sea-faring Nation. In addition
to the regular benefits of membership listed above, Navy Eagle Circle members also are, if they wish, listed on a separate
Navy Eagle Circle Page on this Site, in perpetuity. For further information on participation in the Community Foudation Fund or Navy Eagle Circle programs, you may contact us at our national telephone number on our Contact Us Page.
The National Association and all its official State Chapters are I.R.S. tax-exempt and fully tax-deductible Sec.501(c)(19)
organizations. Neither the National Association nor any of its State Chapters accepts grants or other direct funding from
any branch of government, i.e., the American taxpayer, in support of any of the charitable program activities of the
Association. In other words, the Association is not tax supported, but is tax assisted.
| Some US Naval Academy Midshipmen Members of the |
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| Association attend our USNA/Notre Dame Bash 2006 |
| Members relax at the 73d Anniversary |
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| National Convention in Honolulu |
Daniella Sarahyba would like you to select a date on her calendar to become
a member of the United States Navy Veterans Association, and come join us for some good food at our National Convention. It's
easy. Just go to our Membership Application Page and download it. To get a copy of Daniella's current calendar, call1-800-528-5000 or click on her picture.
Picture by Walter Iooss, Jr. Suit by Letarte by Lisa Cabrinha.
Copyright, Time, Inc.
| Some of our Memphis Area Members |
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| meet with the Navy's Team Constitution |
Total
U.S. Navy Veterans Association Voting Membership:
And Counting!
If every existing member signed up only one additional member today, we would double our membership
overnight!
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Site Index and Guide to the Site ************************* 
(1) Pages About the Association: ***************************************************************** ***************** Mission Statement: Who We Are and What We Do ************************ ***************** Homeport: A History of the United States Navy Veterans Association *************** *********** Veterans Outreach Programs **************************************** ****************** Current Advocacy and Achievements: Legislation and U.S. Government Policy ****** ************* Convention, Membership and Contributions Information/Do Not Call List **************** ******* Navy Eagle Circle ************** ************************* Navy Community Foundation Fund Awards, Endorsements and Compliments ************************************************ State and Overseas Chapters/Contribution Processing Centers ******************************* Membership Application *************************************************************** Governmental Disclosures ************************************************ * Annual Report 
(2) Pages About the U.S. Navy: ***************************************************************** **************** History of the United States Navy *************** ************************* News of the Navy U.S. Navy Enlisted Personnel and Officers' Insignia ***************************************** A Brief History of the United States Naval Academy ***************** United States Navy Seabees United States Navy Seals ********************* *********************** Virtual Navy Wall 
