36 USC § 230102 - Purposes

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t36/s230102"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_legal_evidence"
title: "36 USC § 230102 - Purposes"
title_number: 36
title_name: "PATRIOTIC AND NATIONAL OBSERVANCES, CEREMONIES, AND ORGANIZATIONS"
section_number: "230102"
section_name: "Purposes"
chapter_number: 2301
chapter_name: "VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES"
part_number: "B"
part_name: "Organizations"
positive_law: true
currency: "119-84"
last_updated: "2026-04-17"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
source_credit: "(Pub. L. 105–225, Aug. 12, 1998, 112 Stat. 1481; Pub. L. 107–242, § 2, Oct. 16, 2002, 116 Stat. 1497; Pub. L. 113–199, § 1(b), Dec. 4, 2014, 128 Stat. 2058.)"
---


# § 230102. Purposes

The purposes of the corporation are fraternal, patriotic, historical, charitable, and educational, and are—

**(1)** to preserve and strengthen comradeship among its members;

**(2)** to assist worthy comrades;

**(3)** to perpetuate the memory and history of our dead, and to assist their surviving spouses and orphans;

**(4)** to maintain true allegiance to the Government of the United States, and fidelity to its Constitution and laws;

**(5)** to foster true patriotism;

**(6)** to maintain and extend the institutions of American freedom; and

**(7)** to preserve and defend the United States from all enemies.

---

**Source Credit**: (Pub. L. 105–225, Aug. 12, 1998, 112 Stat. 1481; Pub. L. 107–242, § 2, Oct. 16, 2002, 116 Stat. 1497; Pub. L. 113–199, § 1(b), Dec. 4, 2014, 128 Stat. 2058.)

| RevisedSection | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 230102 | 36:113. | May 28, 1936, ch. 471, § 3, 49 Stat. 1391. |

## Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2014—Par. (3).  substituted “surviving spouses” for “widows”.

2002— inserted “charitable,” before “and educational,” in introductory provisions.