CONTENTS DAV’s new national commander, “Butch” Whitehead, sets his focus for the coming year. National Adjutant focuses on veterans’ physical and mental well-being. With DAV in her corner, Air Force veteran’s decade-long fight for service connection ends in victory. Top honors: DAV shines the spotlight on the year’s leading volunteers, recruiters, members and supporters. Though DAV fought—and succeeded—to expand the VA’s caregiver program, continued delays are pushing the enrollment date back again for newly eligible veterans. DAV members come together in Myrtle Beach, S.C., for a country music celebration—and special recognition. Know a veteran who has been turned away from VA due to an other than honorable discharge? DAV and the Veterans Legal Clinic of Harvard Law School want to hear about it. FEATURES Telling her story: Widower David McNorrill shares why advancing burn pit legislation is so critical for veterans like his wife, Ashley, who succumbed to service-connected cancer in 2016. The 2019 DAV and DAV Auxiliary National Convention wraps up in Orlando, Fla. Catch all the highlights! Past National Commander Bobby Barrera shares his real “alive day” story, 50 years after being seriously injured by an explosion in Vietnam. Stephen “Butch” Whitehead National Commander J. Marc Burgess National Adjutant/Publisher Daniel J. Clare Chief Communications and Outreach Officer Rob Lewis National Communications Director Ashleigh Byrnes Deputy National Communications Director M. Todd Hunter Assistant National Communications Director Mary Dever Assistant National Communications Director Bryan Lett Assistant National Communications Director Austin Shaffner Assistant National Communications Director Janice M. Hagar Associate National Communications Director Matt Saintsing Associate National Communications Director Doreen Briones Production Manager Shannan Archer Senior Graphic Designer Michelle Bradburn Graphic Production Assistant DAV MAGAZINE • September/October 2019 Contact us: dav.org • Toll Free 877-426-2838 • 3725 Alexandria Pike, Cold Spring, KY 41076 • feedback@dav.org. Volume 61, Issue 5, DAV Magazine (ISSN 0885-6400). Editorial Office: DAV Magazine, P.O. Box 14301, Cincinnati, OH 45250-0301. Telephone 859-441-7300 or toll free (877) I AM A VET. Published and circulated bimonthly bulletin by the Disabled American Veterans, a Congressionally chartered, nonprofit organization, P.O. Box 14301, Cincinnati, OH 45250-0301. DAV Home Page is dav.org. Available on recording for the blind and those with physical handicaps that preclude reading printed material. The magazine is mailed free to DAV and Auxiliary members who are paid subscribers. Nonmembers may subscribe for $15 per year. Periodical postage paid at office of publication, Newport, KY 41071, and at additional offices. Printed in U.S.A. Change of Address: When notifying a change of address, send former as well as new address, including ZIP code, to: DAV Magazine, DAV National Headquarters, P.O. Box 145550, Cincinnati, OH 45250-5550. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to DAV Magazine, DAV National Headquarters, P.O. Box 145550, Cincinnati, OH 45250-5550.