Military veterans are, sadly, some of the most in need of support from nonprofits, but lately there have been a number of veteran’s charities coming under fire for not doing right by the people they’re supposed to be helping. The Wounded Warrior Project has seen the most press, after the CEO and COO were fired following revelations that they were spending most of the group’s money on pomp and circumstance, instead of helping veterans.
Now, The National Vietnam Veterans Foundation is under investigation for similar offenses. The group actually has a rating of 0 out of 4 stars from Charity Navigator, which is pretty damning on its own. A big part of that is because it does not have an independent board of directors. Their board consists of only three members, some of whom are related to each other. According to 2014 tax filings, they spent $133,000 on travel, $8,000 for parking, and $21,000 on awards. How is any of that possibly justified?
It doesn’t seem like the organization cares, because they also paid the charity’s head $65,000 that year. Which was in addition to the $127,000 salary he brings home as a deputy director of the Office of General Counsel for the Department of Veterans Affairs. The VA has a pretty mixed reputation with veterans, and the idea of somebody who makes that much money in the first place supplementing his income by another 50% instead of actually helping the veterans he purports to work for, is pretty disgusting.
Veterans charities exist because the VA isn’t all that good at it’s job, and with people like this involved, it’s not hard to see why. J. Thomas Burch, the individual in question, so far hasn’t responded to requests for interviews from CNN or anyone else, which is a sure sign that he’s got no real defense for his actions.