DAV national service director Ken Wolfe retires. (DAV Service).

After a lifetime of service to disabled veterans and their families, DAV National Service Director Kenneth D. Wolfe retired from the DAV professional staff effective May 1, 2002. Mr. Wolfe, a combat-disabled Vietnam Veteran, had served the DAV for 33 years, dedicating his life to building better lives for disabled veterans, their families, and survivors.

"Ken's professional service to disabled veterans and the DAV is a record of historic accomplishment," said National Adjutant Arthur H. Wilson. "He has been directing our corps of National Service Officers through a very crucial period as the VA changes. He has excelled in doing his best to benefit veterans and their families."

"I have been blessed to work for the greatest veterans service organization in the world," Mr. Wolfe said. "I could not ask for any finer men and women to work with nor any better cause to serve. My career has been a labor of love for my fellow veterans, and I could never have succeed if not for the vision and wisdom of people like National Adjutant Art Wilson, National Service and Legislative Headquarters Executive Director Dave Gorman, and National Headquarters Executive Director Rick Patterson."

Mr. Wolfe's responsibilities included the day-to-day management of all activities of the DAV's National Service Program, which employs 260 professional National Service Officers (NSOs) in 69 offices throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. He also directed the creation of the new DAV Mobile Service Office (MSO) program, the Transition Service Officer (TSO) program, and the new Area Supervisor program. In addition, Mr. Wolfe assists the dedicated Chapter Service Officers on the local level and the Department Service Officers on the state level.

In his tenure as National Service Director, Mr. Wolfe has been responsible for the program that has helped hundreds of thousands of disabled veterans and their families secure millions of dollars in benefits to which they were entitled.

VA Secretary Anthony J. Principi paid high tribute to Mr. Wolfe's career in the DAV. "I have known and respected Ken Wolfe for over 10 years as a friend and advisor," Secretary Principi said. "I have also experienced the effect of his passion and tenaciousness if he thought that the interests of disabled veterans had not been accorded appropriate weight."

"I am pleased to have worked side-by-side with Ken," Secretary Principi said "The standards he set for himself raised the bar for all of us who devote our careers to serving American veterans."

Mr. Wolfe's career as a member of the DAV's professional staff began in 1969 as a National Service Officer at the Indianapolis, Ind., National Service Office. He was promoted to NSO Supervisor in Indianapolis in 1975. In 1991, he was reassigned as Supervisor of the Chicago National Service Office.

"After spending 21 years in the Indianapolis office, I became comfortable with my own world," Mr. Wolfe said. "The transfer to Chicago and taking on greater responsibilities for the National Service Office staff was an eye-opening experience. It gave me opportunities I never realized and the experience I would need to come to the Washington Headquarters staff. It certainly broadened my horizons."

Based on his outstanding successes at the DAV Chicago office, Mr. Wolfe was appointed Deputy National Service Director and transferred to the DAV National Service and Legislative Headquarters in Washington, D.C., in 1993. He was appointed to his current position in 1994.

Mr. Wolfe has served on dozens of federal panels to improve programs serving veterans. Most recently he was a valued member of the VA Claims Processing Task Force established last year by Secretary Principi to help resolve the problem of a massive claims backlog.

"Ken served on the Claims Processing Task Force and was one of the hardest working and most dedicated members we had," said VA Under Secretary for Benefits Daniel Cooper, who served as task force chairman. "Ken has a high degree of professionalism and integrity, and even though he does not smile in his picture for DAV Magazine, he has a good sense of humor.

"I am sure he'll be sorely missed, having been such a dedicated individual for the DAV," Mr. Cooper said.

"Ken brought many superb skills to the job," Mr. Wilson said. "His eagerness, organizational skills, knowledge, and pro-active support for veterans and our employees helped continue the unsurpassed record of achievement by our NSOs. In addition, his sharp sense of humor was able to make a pleasure of even the toughest chore."

Mr. Wolfe served in the United States Marine Corps from 1966 to 1967. While serving in Vietnam, he suffered a gunshot wound to the lower left leg and ankle. Due to his injury and subsequent disability, he was medically discharged from the Marine Corps in late 1967.

A native of South Bend, Ind., Mr. Wolfe received a DAV complimentary one-year membership in 1968. He has been a member of the DAV ever since.

"I will carry with me the spirit of thousands of faithful and dedicated veterans," Mr. Wolfe said. "But I will always be on call for the DAV. I proudly leave the future of the DAV service programs in the capable hands of our National Service Officer corps and their dedicated staffs with the confidence that they will carry on even better in the future. The DAV will be there, until the last disabled veteran has been served."