LOUISVILLE, Ky., – From our 125th National Convention, the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) is thrilled to announce the selection of Army and Air Force Veteran Jerry Kayrouz as its 2023-2024 John A. Biedrzycki Accredited Service Representative of the Year. Awarded annually, the Biedrzycki Award is presented to a VFW Accredited Service Representative who has demonstrated exceptional achievements in support of the VFW’s veterans’ service mission and related programs.
“Our accredited representatives are the backbone of the VFW’s National Veterans Service,” said VFW National Commander Duane Sarmiento. “Day in and day out, they are in their communities getting veterans their hard-earned benefits and compensation. It is fitting that we bestow the Biedrzycki Award upon Jerry Kayrouz after an unbelievable career of selfless service.”
From left to right: VFW National Commander Duane Sarmiento; Amy Gaddis, Jerry’s daughter; Jerry Kayrouz and Betty Jean Biedrzycki, surviving spouse of John Biedrzycki. (VFW Photo/Bob Knudsen)Kayrouz, who retired from his Department Service Officer role just last month, was an essential part of the VFW’s network of nearly 2,000 accredited representatives around the world and had served Louisville, Kentucky-area veterans and families since August 2001.
VFW Accredited Service Representatives are legally recognized and authorized by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to prepare, present and prosecute VA benefits claims. Importantly, VA-accredited representatives NEVER CHARGE for initial disability compensation claims. In fiscal year 2023 alone, the VFW’s Accredited Service Representative network secured over $13 billion in compensation and pension on behalf of veterans and eligible family members.
A native Louisvillian, Kayrouz served first as a jet engine mechanic in the U.S. Air Force from early 1965 to late 1968. He then went on to serve as a food service specialist in the Kentucky Army National Guard from 1982 to 1995 during which time he deployed in 1991 with the 438th MP Company to Saudi Arabia as part of Operation Desert Storm. Concurrently employed by the Ford Motor Company, he retired from Ford in 2000 after which he became a VFW Accredited Service Representative in 2001 where he served until his retirement in June 2024. In fiscal year 2024, he helped recoup more than $95 million for Kentucky’s VFW-represented veterans, families, and survivors.
Kayrouz joined the VFW in 1992 and holds his Life membership at Middletown Post 1170 in Louisville, Kentucky.