VFW Takes the Hill: An Advocate's Point of View by Navy veteran Bob Hunter

Our second advocate submission leading up to the 2012 VFW National Legislative Conference comes from Department of Connecticut Legislative Chairman and Navy veteran Bob Hunter. Be on the look-out for more stories from VFW advocates who will be coming to Washington on March 3 to meet with leaders in Congress leading up to VFW Commander-in-Chief Richard L. DeNoyer’s testimony before a special joint session of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committees on March 7:

When I joined the VFW in 2006 I had no idea what role I might take by joining; I only knew I wanted to serve. I looked back on my time in service and thought I could have made more of my experience than I did, and becoming active in the VFW helped me to do more for my fellow veterans.

I came home in good shape compared to some of my comrades who came home profoundly injured, or had even laid down their last great measure of devotion in their country's service. In that regard, I felt I had to do more. When I got out I saw vets who had no concept of the benefits they had earned or how to file a claim with the VA to receive them. There were vets who needed help and they weren’t getting it.

For me it was a learning process, but I wanted to be involved. By dumb luck, I was seated alongside [VFW Executive Director] Bob Wallace and [VFW Adjutant General Allen] “Gunner” Kent at our state convention. I learned in a very brief period of time everything that the Washington office does. They inspired me to continue helping. I thought, “I like that. That’s the root of what we do at the VFW.”

I have been attending the [VFW] legislative conference since 2008. It was my first year as commander of VFW Post 9086 in Torrington, [Conn.,] and I wanted to learn as much as I could about the work the VFW accomplishes every day in our nation's capitol. Moreover, I wanted to bring back word to my post about the VFW’s work, and why our role in supporting those efforts is so important.

Not long after my first conference I met a few comrades who sensed my interest in developing my advocacy skills, and I was immediately taken under their collective wing. Each year I attend the conference I learn and contribute more toward furthering the goals that ensure our brothers and sisters are looked after by the country they took an oath to defend.

In many ways, my service in the VFW is a perpetuation of the oath I took when I enlisted. I've learned the work is continuous, that many hands make for light work, and no effort is too small as long as it helps the VFW remain a leader in their comrade veterans' advocacy.

Bob Hunter served as an electronics technician in the U.S. Navy from 1980-1984. During his time in service, Hunter earned his eligibility to join the VFW as part of the multinational Lebanon Peacekeeping Force aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. During his deployments, Hunter's unit responded to the barracks bombing in Beirut and repeated aggression from Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Today Hunter serves as the legislative chairman for the VFW Department of Connecticut. Hunter's VFW post, Post No. 9086 in Torrington, Conn., helps to finance his trip to Washington each year to participate in the legislative conference on behalf of Connecticut's veterans.

(Images: Top: Navy veteran Bob Hunter during the 2008 Pratt & Whitney Veterans Day Celebration in Connecticut. Bottom: Hunter on the signal bridge of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower while underway in 1984. Photos courtesy of Bob Hunter.)