Department of Nevada

WASHINGTON – The United States' largest organization dedicated to advocating for our nation's disabled veterans and their families and survivors, the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) is asking Americans of all walks of life to join in the "Virtual March on Washington to Protect Veterans' Compensation and Benefits" this Wednesday, July 27, on the social networking site Facebook.

With thousands of virtual marchers already registered, veterans and their family members will be encouraged by DAV to record and publicly post a personal video message, explaining what their compensation and benefits mean to them. Non-veterans will be asked to create a video telling why they are "standing up for veterans." All marchers will also be provided an opportunity to email their elected officials and to post on the congressional representatives' and senators' official Facebook pages as well as on the White House's official page.

"As lawmakers and the White House haggle over how to deal with the national debt and federal spending, the uncertainty over what actions our government might take is causing unnecessary and harmful anxiety in the American public at large and veterans and their families, specifically," said Barry A. Jesinoski, executive director of the DAV's Washington Headquarters. "With spending cuts on the table and the possibility that the government may not be able to meet all its financial obligations in the near future, the DAV is asking everyone to stand up and 'virtually march on Washington.'"

The virtual march will take place primarily on Facebook at http://facebook.com/The.DAV, but the tools to participate will also be available at http://www.dav.org and on Twitter, using the hashtag #March4Vets.

"This is not about Congress or the President – this is about veterans and their families and survivors," Jesinoski said. "We need to make it clear to the entire federal government and the American public that the United States can never again turn its back on veterans. This is about standing up for veterans."

The virtual march formally begins at 8 a.m. July 27, but participants do not need to log on at any specific time as the "march" will take place over the entire day and night. The event is online, so travel is not required.