IMMEDIATE RELEASE Press Release	July 3, 2008	No. 08-013   Contact: Mokie Porter 301-585-4000, Ext. 146
Acclaimed Educator Bridget Cooper To Give Keynote Address at Vietnam Veterans of America's National Leadership Conference
(Washington, D.C.)--The nationally known life coach and professional organizer Bridget Cooper will give the Keynote Speech on Wednesday morning, July 16, at VVA’s biennial National Leadership Conference in Greenville, South Carolina. Dr. Cooper, who holds a Ph.d. in higher education, will speak at the conference’s Opening Ceremonies at the Hyatt Regency Greenville, the site of the Leadership Conference. “Bridget Cooper is a dynamic educator, facilitator, and speaker,” said VVA President John Rowan. “We know that her words will energize everyone at the Leadership Conference and get us off to a great start.” The Leadership Conference brings together hundreds of Vietnam veteran advocates from around the nation. They will take part in four days of seminars, meetings, and other activities. Opening Ceremonies will be held Wednesday, July 16. VVA’s supporting organization, the Associates of Vietnam Veterans of America, will hold its biennial convention and national elections, and the Veterans of Modern Warfare (VMW) will hold its founding National Convention concurrently with the Leadership Conference. J. Craig Venter, the former Navy corpsman who pioneered the development of the human genome, will receive VVA’s Excellence in the Sciences Award at the conference’s final event, the Saturday night, July 19, Awards Banquet. W.D. Ehrhart, the celebrated poet, writer, scholar, and teacher who served as a U.S. Marine in the Vietnam War, will receive the VVA Excellence in the Arts Award. Chris Noel, who hosted host a popular radio show in Vietnam on the Armed Forces Network, and Bobbie “the Weather Girl” Keith, who appeared on AFVN TV, will receive the President’s Award for Excellence in the Arts at the Awards Banquet. Performers Michelle DellaFave and Lindsay Bloom will receive Vietnam Veterans of America’s Service Award.
Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) is the nation's only congressionally chartered veterans service organization dedicated to the needs of Vietnam-era veterans and their families.  VVA's founding principle is “Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.”