Veterans’ Organizations Strive to Clarify They Are Not Affiliated with the Wounded Warrior...

In the wake of the CBS News story about Wounded Warrior Project’s spending on staff retreats and the corresponding New York Times article, smaller, local organizations that serve veterans want to let the public know that they are standalone entities. One such organization, the Wyakin Warrior Project in Boise, Idaho, released a statement earlier this week to clarify their position as separate 501(c)(3) that is not in any way affiliated with the Wounded Warrior Project. Another organization, Wounded Warriors Family Support, states at the top of their website in red letters that they are not part of the Wounded Warrior Project. (It is unclear whether that statement was on the website prior to the news stories released this week.)

NPQ has extensively covered organizations serving veterans and the fraud and controversy that tends to surround them. This is not the first time that the Wounded Warrior Project has received some bad press. Less than a year ago, NPQ reported on the Wounded Warrior Project’s “mission” to take legal action against locally based veterans’ organizations whose names included the words wounded warrior. This is troubling, as both sides, the big organization and the little organization, were then diverting funds for legal fees that could otherwise have been used toward their respective missions. Some small organizations may not be able to financially fight that legal battle. Others may simply choose not to engage in a legal battle in order to do the work they set out to do in the first place: serve veterans.