Vets For Freedom Vets For Freedom is an American political advocacy organization founded in 2006 by veterans of the Iraq and Afghan wars . Its stated purpose is advocacy of victory in America ' s ongoing War on Terrorism , and support of candidates with positions consistent with this goal . Vets For Freedom is a non - profit organization . Vets for Freedom PAC is an associated , but separate tax - exempt , nonpartisan political action committee . Activities . Organizational work . Spokesmen for VFF appear on televised news shows and write op - ed pieces for newspapers . The organization has also issued a number of press releases . Vets for Freedom sponsored a full - page political ad in the Hartford Courant on August 14 , 2006 endorsing Democratic US Senator Joe Lieberman and embarked on a television advertising campaign in Connecticut supportive of his reelection . Additionally , they financed an ad campaign in Georgia to support embattled Democratic Congressman Jim Marshall in 2006 . He won by the smallest margin of any Democratic congressman that year . In March 2008 Vets for Freedom launched a nation - wide event called the " National Heroes Tour . " The trip made national news when a scheduled event was canceled by Forest Lake High School in Minnesota . Many media outlets such as the Drudge Report picked up the story and the school was flooded by emails and phone calls of protest . Vets on the Hill I and II . On Tuesday , September 18 , 2007 Vets for Freedom took part in a breakfast on the south lawn of the White House with President George W . Bush , the First Lady , Vice President Dick Cheney , and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice . Following the program , over 250 members of the organization lobbied members of the U . S . House and Senate to " support Gen . Petraeus and the War in Iraq " and to ask them to denounce MoveOn . org ' s attack on " General Betray - us . " A 3 p . m . rally near the Capitol that day featured speeches from Senators John McCain , Joe Lieberman , Lindsey Graham , and John Cornyn . Remarks were also made by Rep . Roy Blunt . One day later Senator Jim Webb ' s amendment to reduce troop rotation levels failed by four votes . The amendments was called a " slow bleed amendment " by critics . Vets for Freedom was strongly opposed to the legislation and lobbied aggressively for its defeat . Vets for Freedom held a second Vets on the Hill in Washington D . C . on Tuesday , April 8 , 2008 . Over 450 Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans attended the program and met with senators and representatives from every state . Vets for Freedom claimed it was the largest gathering on Capitol Hill of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans . A rally was held at 8 : 30am edt that featured speeches from Sen . John McCain , Sen . Joe Lieberman , and Rep . Jim Marshall . 27 media outlets covered the event which was held the same day as Gen . Petraeus ' testimony before the Senate . Earlier in the day at a breakfast program Vets for Freedom members heard motivational speeches from retired Gen . Richard Myers , a former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff , and current Georgetown men ' s basketball coach John Thompson III . 2008 presidential campaign . In October 2008 , Veterans for Freedom paid for a multimillion - dollar ad campaign criticizing the presidential candidacy of Senator Barack Obama . The group accuses the Democratic presidential nominee of caring more about his campaign than about troops in Iraq and Afghanistan . Previously , Vets for Freedom aired other advertisements criticizing Senator Obama ' s position on the Iraq War . On October 10 , 2008 Veterans for Freedom released a Senate Analysis scorecard . In the VFF scorecard , every single Democratic senator was given the lowest possible grade of F . Three Republican senators were graded F , and 38 Republican senators received the grade of A + . VFF gave Sen Obama the score of 0 . 5 % , or second lowest , and gave his running mate Sen Joe Biden the score of 0 . 0 % , tying him for last place with Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts . John McCain received a score of 93 . 5 % and the grade of A - . 2010 congressional campaign . " Italicized " denotes successful run . In a campaign called " Operation 10 - in - 10 , " Vets for Freedom backed 10 Republican congressional candidates in the 2010 congressional elections . The Iraq and Afghanistan veterans running for office included " Allen West " ( FL - 22 ) , " Steve Stivers " ( OH - 15 ) , Jonathan Paton ( AZ - 8 ) , Ilario Pantano ( NC - 7 ) , " Adam Kinzinger " ( IL - 11 ) , " Joe Heck " ( NV - 3 ) , " Chris Gibson " ( NY - 20 ) , Brian Rooney ( MI - 7 ) , Kevin Calvey ( OK - 5 ) , and " Tim Griffin " ( AR - 2 ) . Controversy . Vets for Freedom has been accused by the Center for Media and Democracy of being a front group for Republican political activities and being directed by GOP managers . Founders . In 2004 , Bellavia was the subject of a Time Magazine cover story titled " Into the Hot Zone " which won a Pulitzer Prize . According to Publishers Weekly , Bellavia secured a book deal with Simon & Schuster . The book was titled " House to House " , and was published in September 2007 . Zirkle and cofounder David Bellavia , now a writer , returned to Iraq as civilian reporters in 2006 and embedded with the Iraqi Army in Ramadi . Their articles were published in the " Philadelphia Inquirer " and the " Weekly Standard " . Bellavia and Zirkle appear regularly on CNN and Fox News Channel as representatives of " Vets for Freedom " to offer commentary on the Global War on Terror . Funding . VFF has applied for status as a tax - exempt nonprofit , but as of June 2006 the application was not approved . Zirkle said that " Initial funding came from family members and friends . " It is now a 501 ( c ) 4 nonprofit organization . Vets for Freedom states on their homepage " We depend on small donations from our thousands of supporters across America . " The National Journal has reported that casino magnate Sheldon Adelson , the third richest man in America , has made a significant donation to Vets For Freedom .