Since 1946, Paralyzed Veterans of America has been on a mission to change lives and build brighter futures for our seriously injured heroes. We’ve had a single-minded mission—to empower our brave men and women to regain what they fought for: their freedom and independence. The organization was founded by a band of service members who came home from World War II with a spinal cord injury. They returned to a grateful nation, but also to a world with few solutions to the challenges they faced. They made a decision not just to live, but to live with dignity as contributors to society. They created Paralyzed Veterans of America, an organization dedicated to veterans service, medical research and civil rights for people with disabilities. Today, the work continues to create an America where all veterans and people with disabilities, and their families, have everything they need to live full and productive lives. Paralyzed Veterans national officers and our 34 chapters represent thousands of veterans in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.