State Commander, Tim Sloan, released the following statement in regards to the use of his slogan, "Building the Tribe":

To the Membership of the Department of Louisiana VFW Comrades, let me clarify the use of the term used for my year "Building the Tribe”. 

Webster’s Dictionary defines Tribe in the following way: a social division in a traditional society consisting of families or communities linked by social, economic, religious, or blood ties, with a common culture and dialect, typically having a recognized leader.

If this does not define what the Veterans of Foreign Wars is then please define it for me.

 I, as the Commander am the recognized leader, along with other appointed leaders, the traditional society is shown by our service to defend this country by taking that Oath of Enlistment, blood ties are that we all bleed red, no matter the color of our skin and that we were not afraid to bleed for one another in combat, we all fought for the same thing.

 My purpose in using "Building the Tribe” is to help our organization identify with other Veterans Service Organizations and build a joint cohesive support structure to become ONE strong voice for the assistance and to help all our veterans, whether they are Combat or not. 

Incoming National Commander Fritz Mihelcic has a requirement for all VFW Posts throughout this Nation, to work with other service organizations on Community Service Projects, is this not building a Tribe? All we are trying to do is make things better for veterans and their families. Working together, we can get more accomplished than everyone having their own agendas for self interests and self gain.

If the term Tribe offends anyone, then I am sorry that you feel this way. I hope this clarifies my use of the term in my slogan.