2020-2021 Post Awards

VFW Post 2894 is the FOURTH VFW Post in Chesapeake! “Tidewater Post 2163” was formed by a group of WWI and WWII veterans in February 1945 and met in South Norfolk until 1963 when they merged with Post 4809 in Norfolk. In 1987, Post 3829 “Great Bridge” was established by a group of Vietnam veterans but was merged with Post 4809 in April 1991. Sometime thereafter, the “E.A. Martin, Jr. Memorial Post 8291” was established but it too merged with 4809 in July 1995. Eight months later, on 26 March 1996, Post 2894 was chartered in Chesapeake.

In 2011 the Post was named the “Staff Sergeant Jonathan Kilian Dozier Memorial Post”* in honor of one of Chesapeake’s own who made the ultimate sacrifice on 9 January 2008 while serving our country in Sinsil, Diyala Province, Iraq. The Post flag was dedicated on 10 April 2013. The many streamers on the flag represent the honors received by the Post and the many campaigns which our members have participated in, from WWII to today. 

On 8 April 2015, the Ladies Auxiliary of Post 2894 was established with 18 charter members.

The Post has been named an All-American Post (top 2% of posts worldwide) for six years in a row and is on track to win it again this year! We have also been recognized for five of the last six years as a National Outstanding Community Service Post – only 50 Posts worldwide receive this each year and we have done it five times! In 2016, our Post newsletter won the National Grand Award and in 2019 the National Bronze Award. In 2015, our Teacher of the Year, Craig Blackman, won the National VFW award, and, in 2016, Kimberly Hammers was National 3 rd runner-up! We have also had seven National VFW Public Servant awards: police officers Selena Beaver (2015), Heather Bishop (‘17) and Norwood King (‘19); two EMTs, David Brock (’16) and Richard Gray (‘20); a State Trooper, Shawn Ford (‘20); and a firefighter, Justin Beazley (‘21). In 2020 the Post was presented with the Fred C. Hall National Community Service Project Award for completing rebuilding the home of an active duty single mom in need. In 2021, the Post received our third National Award for Excellence for an Outstanding Service Project – in 2018, we were one of only 3 posts world-wide to receive it – ours was for the 2017 Bataan Death March.

The Post remembers our Nation’s fallen through the traditional presentation of Buddy Poppies which the VFW began in 1919 after WWI. Since 1996, our Post has donated $345,000 to charities such as the VFW National Home for Widows and Orphans, the Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots, Snowball Express, the United Serviceman’s Organization (USO), Fisher House, Wreaths Across America, and many more. Over the past several years, and with the help of Home Depot, the Post has been responsible for more than $680,000 in the repairs and reconstruction of homes of local veterans, their widows, and families. The Post was instrumental in the declaration of Route 17 as a “Blue Star Highway”. A number of post comrades are members of the Mayor’s Commission for Veterans’ Affairs and played a role in the naming of the “Veterans’ Bridge”, the creation of a Veterans’ Benefits Office at TCC, and the development of Cypress Landing, housing for disabled and low-income veterans.

The Post’s biggest event of the year is our annual Bataan Death March Memorial Walk which draws hundreds of participants and honors the heroes of WWII and the Korean War.  Starting in 2015, the Post has set up a POW-MIA display in the Central Library and hosted a city-wide ceremony honoring the 71 from Chesapeake (including South Norfolk and Norfolk County) who died in POW camps or are still missing-in-action. Join us this third Friday in September in front of City Hall for the next remembrance ceremony.

Many of the Post’s comrades are also members and leaders of other fraternal organizations such as the American Legion, the Marine Corps League, Disabled American Veterans, and the Fleet Reserve Association.  Additionally, the Post plays a major role in ceremonies at the City’s Veterans’ Memorial Park as well as advocating for veterans’ issues in the city of Chesapeake. Our membership ranges from veterans of WWII to a 27 year old veteran of Afghanistan. Chesapeake is the 5 th largest community of veterans in Virginia with over 36,000 in our city – meaning the Post still has lots of room to grow!!!! 

VFW Origin – September 29 th is the “birthday” of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. On that date in 1899, thirteen veterans of the Spanish-American War (1898) formed a post of the American Veterans of Foreign Service (AVFS) now officially known as "VFW Post 1, John S. Stewart Post". VFW Name – The VFW name was created on September 17, 1914 at a conference at the Schenley Hotel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with the merger of two veterans’ organizations: the AFVS and the National Society of the Army of the Philippines (formed in Denver in 1899 for veterans of the Philippine–American War, 1899-1902). 

Congressional Charter – On May 28, 1936, by an act of the United States Congress, the VFW became a government-chartered non-profit organization. As such, it receives no funding from United States tax receipts and is supported only by charitable donations. 

VFW Cross – Nearly ten centuries ago the Maltese Cross was made the symbol of fighting men united by a solemn pledge of comradeship to fight for freedom and to aid the sick and the needy. Those ancient obligations are still symbolized by the Cross of Malta today, for the more than two million former servicemen who are the VFW. The cross is the symbol of their battles in time of war and of their campaign  3  to defend the God-given rights of human beings in time of peace. The Cross of Malta symbolizes the compassion, or sympathy, of those men and women for the needy. It is the sign of the services which our contemporary veterans render to help make living a little better for everyone. VFW 

Cap – The overseas cap was America's first military uniform device denoting war time service and has been adopted by the VFW as its official cap honoring those who have answered America’s call to arms.

Per Section 230101 of the Congressional Charter of 1936, “The purpose of this corporation shall be fraternal, patriotic, historical, charitable and educational; to preserve and strengthen comradeship among its members; to assist worthy comrades; to perpetuate the memory and history of our dead, and to assist their widows and orphans; to maintain true allegiance to the Government of the United States of America, and fidelity to its Constitution and laws; to foster true patriotism; to maintain and extend the institutions of American freedom; and to preserve and defend the United States from all her enemies, whomsoever.”