Harley’s Heroes®

When the opportunity came for First Degree to introduce Disabled American Veterans (DAV) and Harley-Davidson, it was a perfect match. There are no generational boundaries that determine a veteran or a motorcycle enthusiast. From twenty-five to eighty-five, both the DAV and Harley-Davidson have a wide variety of enthusiasts and supporters. Harley-Davidson has a longstanding reputation of proudly supporting U.S. Veterans and in recent years, the face of veterans has changed. Many men and women are returning home and reaching veteran status at an early age. While the DAV strives to serve veterans from every era, the need for veteran services has increased.

In 2007, the Harley-Davidson Foundation pledged to give DAV $1 million to expand their existing Mobile Service Office (MSO) program. The MSO program is designed to provide benefits counseling and education to veterans and their families on what is available to them through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as a result of their service and sacrifice.

In conjunction with Harley-Davidson and DAV, First Degree helped create Harley’s Heroes®. The mission of Harley’s Heroes® is to give more access for all veterans to receive benefits counseling and to show appreciation for their service and sacrifice to our country. The DAV extended the MSO routes to include Harley-Davidson dealerships and launched the first Harley’s Heroes® Tour.

Each year, dealerships request to be a stop on the national tour and DAV schedules the MSOs to be present at various dealer events recognizing and servicing veterans in the local community. These distinctive looking and well equipped "offices on wheels" eliminate long trips some veterans must take to visit DAV National Service Offices. MSOs are staffed by highly trained professional counselors who are skilled experts in developing and processing veterans' claims.

The success of the Harley’s Heroes® Tour has been evident. In 2007, the inaugural tour produced great results with more than 180 Harley-Davidson dealership hosted events serving more than 7,000 veterans. For more than 200 days in 2008, MSOs were stationed at Harley-Davidson dealerships. The tour is continuing in 2009.