Local chapters join in DAV’s 100th anniversary celebration

“We don’t leave any veteran behind,” said William “Bill” Garcia, commander of Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Chapter 10 – Mesilla Valley.

DAV Chapter 10 and Chapter 38 – Las Cruces, are joining the nationwide and international celebration of DAV’s 100^th birthday on Friday, Sept. 25.

“We take the city,” Chapter 10 Adjutant Jerry Hernandez said, while Chapter 38 “has the outskirts.”

The DAV helps local veterans get rides to medical appointments in Las Cruces and El Paso, file benefit claims and can sometimes even provide financial assistance when a vet needs help paying a bill. The organization can also provide referrals to a wide range of medical, behavioral and other services.

The local DAV chapters also participate in area events, including parades. Chapter 10 members work with Las Colcheras Quilt Guild of Las Cruces to provide handmade quilts to veterans, fill and distribute holiday baskets and work closely with other local veterans’ organizations like the VFW, the American Legion and Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA), said Hernandez, Bill Garcia and DAV Chapter 10 First Junior Vice President Tony Garcia.

The organization also conducts regular fundraisers to help veterans, and it supports the annual Bataan Death March at White Sands Missile Range, operating a watering station.

Hernandez is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and saw duty “all over the world,” including the Panama Canal and the Gulf of Tonkin. Hernandez served two years of active duty, along with four years in the Naval Reserve.

“In 1972, while I was aboard the USS Inchon LPH-12 serving outside Singapore, those ships that were in the immediate area were given a chance to go aboard the USS Midway, which was hosting The Bob Hope Christmas Show,” Hernandez said, recounting one of his favorite memories. He received a ticket, and once aboard the Midway, sat about 20 feet from the stage.

In addition to Hope, the show included Hope’s wife, Dorothy, Los Angeles Rams quarterback Roman Gabriel, comedian Redd Foxx, singer Lola Falana, Miss World 1972 Belinda Green, 16 other beauty contestants and a juggler.

Dolores Hope led the audience in singing "Silent Night," Hernandez remembered. “Believe me, everyone had a tear in their eyes during this performance. I remember as a young person seeing this on television every year not thinking that I would be part of this show.” 

Hernandez worked professionally for the national DAV for 16 years, coordinating a wide range of services to veterans in Las Cruces and throughout this part of the state.

Now retired, Hernandez continues to donate much of his time to helping veterans connect with the care and services they need.

“I still help people from all over the world,” he said.

Hernandez welcomes the occasional ream or paper or ink cartridge for his printer but doesn’t charge for his services.

Bill Garcia was a radar repairman in the U.S. Army, where he served for three years, along with one year in the Army Reserve. His first assignment was at Fort Bliss. With his Army training, Garcia became an electrical engineer, earning his master’s degree in electrical engineering from NMSU. He worked for the U.S. Department of Defense for 35 years before retiring.

“I got the background with the (Army) radar system,” he said. “It became a career.”

Both Garcia’s sons are electrical engineers, he said, and his oldest is pursuing a doctorate degree.

Bill Garcia is in his second year as DAV Chapter 10 commander. He also served seven years as president of the VVA State Council.

Tony Garcia served 23 years in the U.S. Army and saw combat in Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm. He is now retired. He’s played Santa Claus for a number of local holiday celebrations, Garcia said.

“We’re here to help veterans,” Hernandez said, noting that a vet doesn’t have to have a disability to ask the DAV for help. “We’re open to any veteran,” he said. “A veteran’s a veteran. All veterans are hurting.”

Pandemic permitting, DAV Chapter 10 meets at 6 p.m. the third Thursday of each month. DAV Chapter 38 meets in the morning on the third Saturday of each month, Hernandez said.

Life membership in the DAV is $300 and is free to any veterans age 80 and older.

Contact Hernandez at 575-339-3526 and lilrascals1@comcast.net. Write to New Mexico DAV Chapter 10 - Mesilla Valley, P. O. Box 2457, Las Cruces, N.M. 88004. Visit www.dav.org.

The DAV was created to serve veterans after World War I

More than 4.7 million Americans served in World War I (Jul 28, 1914 – Nov 11, 1918), and 53,500 died in combat. Accidents and illnesses, mostly the Spanish Flu, took the lives of another 63,000. 204,000 Americans in uniform were wounded during the war. In less than six months, half of the four million Americans in uniform were released from military service.

The post-war national economy was already deeply stressed, but the flood of war veterans looking for jobs or needing medical care made it terribly worse. By 191, four million Americans were jobless. For the next two years, recession and widespread unemployment crippled the American economy.

In 1919, Congress cut job programs by 80 percent. Veterans had to fend for themselves, as there was no single government program like today’s Department of Veterans Affairs.

Though the DAV had existed for several months prior to Sept. 25, 1920, that day is considered the birth of the organization. The Cincinnati, Ohio group called a national caucus on that date that was attended by some 250 disabled veterans from self-help groups across the U.S. who federated into a national body.

The caucus held the new organization’s first national convention the following June in Detroit.

The nonprofit DAV “provides more than 600,000 rides to veterans attending medical appointments and assists veterans with more than 200,000 benefit claims. In 2019, DAV helped veterans receive more than $21 billion in earned benefits. DAV’s services are offered at no cost to all generations of veterans, their families and survivors.

DAV has nearly 1,300 chapters and more than one million members in the U.S.

DAV chartered by an act of Congress June 17, 1932.