Factsheet ‘Veterans’ Card Holders’ in the Netherlands

Abstract: The Dutch government recognises the special achievements of its veterans by, among other things, granting them a veterans’ card. The former Stichting Dienstverlening Veteranen [Veterans’ Services Foundation], one of the forerunners of the Veterans’ Institute, issued the first veterans’ cards in August 1993. Veterans can apply for the pass themselves. The automatic issuing of the veterans’ card to service personnel with deployment experience who have left the service began in 2006. More than 66,000 Dutch veterans have a veterans’ card. The pass comes with a number of material benefits. For example, veterans’ card holders receive the veterans’ magazine Checkpoint ten times a year. The free travel passes issued for travel to veterans’ events, such as reunions, remembrance ceremonies or veterans’ days, are another benefit. Veterans also receive the Handboek Veteraan [Veterans’ Handbook] alongside the pass and - since 2003 - the Veterans’ Commemorative Badge. Finally, an increasing number of discount schemes are being linked to the veterans’ card. Since the publication of the Veterans’ Act in 2012, the Ministry of Defence has also granted veteran status to about 30,000 service personnel in active service (including reservists) with deployment experience. They are now also being issued automatically with the veterans’ card with comparable benefits, the Handboek Veteraan and the Veterans’ Commemorative Badge. This new category of veterans (in active service) is not taken into account in the rest of this fact sheet. The figures in the fact sheet relate to the present group of veterans’ card holders who have already left the armed forces, i.e. to those known as retired veterans.